What hurts the most
by DreaWhite
Summary: The Snow Queen destroyed one course when she sacrificed herself, but what if she left something else behind? A spell that will make the people Emma loves the most hurt her. (CaptainSwan, Charming Family feels, Emma/Regina friendship, Angst)
1. Chapter 1

_"Are you sure this is going to work" said the Snow Queen looking at gold with disbelief._

 _"Yes dearie, when you enact this spell, you will receive what you want...Emma"_

 _"She loves his parents, I've seen it, how are you so sure that she won't go back to them?" The Queen demanded, "I want her to be MY sister and not their daughter. You said that she is the product of true love, and the love that she feels for those people won't be easy to...persuade."_

 ** _"_** _I've lived many years dearie, and one of the most important lessons that I've learned is that the people that you love the most are the ones that can hurt you the worst"_

 ** _"_** _So this spell is going to make Emma destroy her own parents?"_

 _"No, as I explained to you before, I don't have a spell strong enough to make Emma hurt the people she loves the most. But that doesn't mean that I can't make THEM hurt Emma to a point where she will be so broken, so helpless and vulnerable that she will accept your so called love"_

 _The Snow Queen smiled. She had to admit that this was a great plan to have Emma and her love. "How long? And how are they going to drive her own daughter away?"_

 _"Oh it is really simple actually. One of the things that Emma fears the most is to lose the love of her parents, to be replaced and be let down as she's always been. The arrival of the new member of the charming family will make everything so much easier" Gold said in a dark voice "You will have to be patient dearie. This will probably take a couple of months but once she is completely broken again...she will be yours" He ended with a wicked smile._

 _The Snow Queen let out a little laugh. "That is exactly what I need, I need her to think that they don't love her, that I am the only one who truly loves her, who cares about her. What will happen to them? Are they going to live under the influence of the spell forever again?"_

 _"No, you see the spell only has one purpose, to make them break their own daughter's heart, once that is done, they will come back...they will see what the spell made them do. It will be as if they were never under any spell, there won't be any trace of any kind of spell."_

 _"So if there is no trace of the spell..."_

 _"They will have no prove that what they did was under the influence of the spell, they won't be able to prove to Emma that they weren't themselves. I am also sure that this spell will not only break the heart of the savior. Once her mother comes to her senses again, I am sure that she won't be able to live with herself knowing that she broke her daughter's heart"_

Emma opened the door of the little apartment that she had share with her family. The first thing she saw was her mother looking at her baby brother with such love that made Emma smile. She loved that little squirrel as much as she could. She took off her jacked and said "Hey mom! Today was such a busy day, all I wanted to do was to come home and just relax, and have dinner " she turned and saw that Snow hasn't moved much from the position she was in, as if she didn't even heard her. Henry noticed that and he instantly took his backpack off and went to see what Snow was doing. She was doing the usual, looking at her baby in her arms; he was awake and was smiling at Snow. "You are so cute, yes you are", said Snow, while bouncing the baby. "Hey grandma, can I play with him? I will support his head don't worry" Henry said when he noticed Snows eyes thinking if he could do it. Emma noticed her mother's hesitation, so she said, "Hey kid, you should go and take a shower, and do your homework too"

"But it's Friday!" He argued "I have the entire weekend to do my homework, and I don't have much, and school starts until Tuesday so I have even more time to finish it"

"Well if you want to go to your so called "boys-only camp" you should start your homework now" said Emma firmly.

Emma turned and looked at her mother with a concerned face, it seem that she wasn't even listening to anything that was going around her, as if her own little world only consisted of her and the baby. Henry noticed her mothers worried face and said "Just tell her that you fought a dragon, every time she hears about you been in danger she returns to planet earth and freaks out" he said playfully. He didn't know if this was going to work out; his grandma had been acting weird since they killed the Snow Queen.

Emma smiled at her soon and said "So as I was saying, today was such a crazy day, a dragon appeared all of a sudden and I had to fight him with my sword" Emma said winking at Henry.

"Oh, that's great Emma" Snow said laughing at Neal's laugh, not even turning to see Emma.

Emma's faced changed from worry to pure hurt, she couldn't believe that her mother was so...so not her mother. What had happened to the woman that wanted to talk to her all the time? To listen to how her day was, even if it was a normal boring day? She understood that she was practically experiencing being a first time mother, and she was excited for her, she really was, but she never expected that answer for her, for God's shake she wasn't even listening to her! And that broke her heart. It's been a month since her mother had been acting distant to her.

Henry noticed her mothers hurt face and shook his head in disappointment. "Grandma!" He said a little harsher that he intended to sound. Both Emma and Snow turned to him in disbelief. Henry had never talked to Snow in that tone before.

"Excuse me!?" Snow said blinking with a hint of disappointment in her face.

"I was just asking you what are we going to have for dinner", Emma said in a sheepish voice, trying to hide her real feelings. Trying to diffuse the tension and the stares between Snow and Henry. They were both looking at each other and unfortunately Emma realized that Henry was looking at Snow with disappointment, disbelief and a hint of anger.

"Oh, well I didn't make dinner tonight, you know I was busy with Neal and all" Snow said looking at Emma with a hint of gilt "We had an appointment with his pediatrician today...I forgot to tell you"

"Oh no, that's ok" Said Emma a little hurt "We can just order something from Granny's and eat here"

"Well...I actually told David to go pick up something from Granny's in his way home" Snow said looking back at Neal who was playing with her hair "You can join us"

You can join us was all Emma was thinking, those simple words were said as if she was just a friend, a guest. What the Fuck was happening? Emma had noticed that Snow was a little absent but has it come to this? Not telling her anything, forgetting about calling her to let her know. Even when Snow was only Marry-Margaret, her roommate, she would've called her or something.

"Lets go to Granny's mom" Henry said bringing back Emma from her thoughts.

"Ok, kid" was all Emma could say.

They both turned and put their coats back on, and headed downstairs, none of them said anything. Not even a goodbye

Once they got to Granny's they sat down in the last table by the window. Emma noticed that Henry still had that face of disappointment, but at the same time she noticed that he was sad.

"What's going on kid?" She said as she sat down

"What is going on with her?" he said angry looking at Emma

That's when it hit her, she has let her son watched her get hurt by his grandma. She had tried so hard for the last month to hid her emotions in front of her son.

"Well...she is" Emma said lowering her eyes to watch the menu, trying to hide her Emotions from her son "busy? I mean a baby can be a lot of work"

"Mom I am not blind, I have seen her change. From the last month she has been..." He stopped knowing that what came next was going to hurt his mom

"Been what?" Emma asked

"She has been ignoring you in a way" He said instantly noticing the sad expression in his mothers face "I'm sorry mom, but she has! I have notice it...I know it hurts you"

"I am fine kid" Emma said trying her best to smile and reassure her son that everything was fine.

"No you are not", he said firmly looking into her eyes "I know you mom, you have been trying to hide it, but you can't fool me"

When did he get so grown up? How was she supposed to answer that? She saw her son's face when Snow basically ignored her. She saw the disappointment in her son's face. He used to think so high of them and she wasn't going to ruin that.

"Well when you put it like that...yes I am hut" She smiled at her son "But maybe I am over-reacting about it. After all your grandparents are Prince charming and Snow White, they will never try to hurt anybody"

"They think they might not be hurting anybody", Henry said in a really low voice

Emma heard him but decided to ignore it for now, she didn't knew if she was able to defend them right now.

Red approached them and took their orders. While they were waiting Henry couldn't help but remember her mother's heart broken face. He felt so angry with her grandparents right now. They were supposed to look after both their children, but apparently they only had eyes for Neal. He didn't blamed Neal of course, he was only a baby, but he sure blamed his grandparents. He remembered what her mother told him once, about a family that she had when she was a kid and how they replaced her when they had their own child. Was this how his mother felt right now? He had to help her, he had to prevent Snow and Charming from breaking his mother heart. He will protect it.

"Why don't we get our own house mom?" Henry said abruptly

"What?" Emma choked a little

"Yes, you know. We are going to stay here, so we need a house for the two of us...and maybe hook?" Henry finished mischievously.

Where was this coming from? Emma thought.

"Come on mom!" Henry said suddenly exited. He knew that if they got a house they will not really see his grandparents and maybe then. They will realize what they have been doing to his mom. "It's going to be just like in New York, but better! Please mom!"

"I really missed you two" Red said as she approached them with their food, smiling to see Henry so exited about something "Specially Henry"

"Hey!" Emma said

Red just gave Henry a wink and leaned on the table "So, what has you all exited Henry?"

"He wants us to buy a House" Emma explained looking at Henry

"Yeah" Henry said, "Just like the one in New York mom...it's going to be..."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute" Red said raising a hand to stop Henry "Are you guys planning to go back to New York?" She couldn't help but panic a little. She had become really good friends with Emma and she loved Henry, she couldn't lose them.

"No!" Henry yelled "No, I'm just telling my mom that it will be a good idea if we get our own place here, in Storybrooke. We lived in New York alone and it was actually pretty good, but now is going to be better because mom has Hook and I have my other mom and Roland. And of course we have you and Granny and Belle and Will and..."

"Ok, I think she gets it kid" Emma said smiling to see Henry so exited again.

"And you guys have Snow and David too" Red said, she couldn't help but notice that Henry forgot to mentioned them. "Um, did I said something wrong?" red asked as he saw Henry's face change from excitement to...anger or was it sadness?

Emma also saw Henry's change and realized that he wanted to get out of his grandparents house. Dam it! She let her emotions show today. She had fought so hard for the last month to not let her son see how hurt she was feeling. She didn't want Henry to be mad at Snow and David.

"Oh no Red. Everything is fine" Emma said trying to reassure red "And yeah we have them too"

Red could tell that something was wrong. Maybe Emma hasn't told Snow and James that Emma and Henry want to move out? "Have you told them that you want to move out?" She asked Emma "I know is non of my business, but Snow wants you Emma. I don't think neither of them is ready to let you leave. After all you just practically found each other"

Emma let out a bitter laugh that made Henry and Red look at her

"Yeah right"

"Excuse me?", Red said sitting in the both next to Henry. Now she definitely knew that something was wrong, very wrong.

"They don't really care if we are there or not" Henry said looking down at his hands.

"Henry?" Red said trying to make eye contact with Henry "They both love you, the both of you. Why did you say that?"

"Oh, it's nothing Red. Henry is just tired" Emma said as she began to stand up. "Let's go kid, let's take a walk"

"Oh no, no, you are not going anywhere, you haven't eaten your food!" Red said as she reached out and pulled Emma down at the booth "You two are going to tell me what is going on"

Emma and Henry remained silent. Emma was looking out the window and Henry still looking down at his hamburger.

"Oh I see that you both inherited Snow's and Charmin's stubbornness" Red said crossing her arms "Well guest what? I've made them talk and I will make you talk too. We will just wait here until one of you talk"

Ten minutes passed and Red was still waiting for a response. She had to bite his cheek to keep herself from laughing. She thought that Emma and Henry didn't know how much they resemble Snow and James right now.

Emma didn't understood why she was still in the booth, she was Emma fucking Swan, she should've told Red that she had no right to do this. A part of her was mad at Red, but an other part of her wanted to tell someone what was going on. The little girl in her wanted some reassurance that his parents weren't going to leave her again.

Henry decided to star eating his hamburger. He wasn't going to tell Red anything.

"I am sorry mom", Henry said looking up sheepishly at Emma. He knew that his mother didn't like to tell other people about her feelings, but when Red mentioned Snow and Charming he couldn't help but say how he felt. The only other person that he had talk about what was going on was his mom Regina.

"It's ok kid", Emma said looking down at her fries and taking one "Red, I think you should go and attend your other costumers"

"Emma" Red said in a very Marry Margaret tone "I know you see me as your mother's friend, but I am more than that Emma. I am...I want to be your friend too"

Emma looked up and stared at Red, she could tell that she wasn't lying. "Thanks Red" was all she could think of saying.

"Hey kid, don't feel bad about it ok" Emma said to Henry. She could see that he was feeling sad again. She needed to change that "So, do you have any ideas...I mean like housing ideas?"

Henry immediately looked up smiling again "Really!?"

"Yes, really" Emma said smiling, a smile that didn't reach her eyes "As you said, it was pretty good just living the two of us"

"There is this one house near the lake" Henry said as he bitted his hamburger "It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a big back yard and a really nice kitchen, not that you will use it but it looks good"

"Don't talk with your mouth full Henry" Regina said as she approached her son "I know Miss. Swan here doesn't care, but I do"

Henry looked up at his mom with an apologetically smile.

"Hey, Regina. Nice to see you again" Emma said in a sarcastic tone.

"Is nice to see you as well" Regina said with the same sarcastic tone.

"Really?" Henry said pretending to be upset "You two fight like a married couple"

Emma was eating the last bite of hamburger she had and almost choked thanks to Henry's comment.

Regina saw this and smiled "She wishes...anyways what are the two of you doing here? Why aren't you with the not so charmings" Regina immediately saw Henry's face fall. Henry had told her that the two idiots were acting distant to Emma. Was this was made her son upset?

"Is everything ok Henry?" Regina asked, "Do you feel sick?"

"No mom, I am fine" Henry answered "Mary Margaret was busy so she couldn't make dinner today."

"Henry!" a little boy's voice said

Henry turned and saw his little new stepbrother walk in. He immediately smiled and got out of the booth to say hi.

"So, Marry Margaret uh" Regina said "Since when does Henry calls her Marry Margaret?"

"I have to go" Emma said as she began to stand up "I have to work early tomorrow"

"Come on Henry! We have to watch the movie together!" Emma herded Roland tell Henry as she approached them "You also read the book with me, so we have to watch the movie together! Please!"

Henry saw his mother approach and gave her a "Help me please" look.

"Hi, Roland" Emma said

"Aunt Emma!" Roland said as he reached up to hug her. The kid started to call her Aunt no long ago and she had to be honest she didn't mined. The kid was really sweet.

"Hi Emma" Robin said

"We have to go Henry" Emma said once Roland was in the booth next to his father again "I have to work early tomorrow and you still have to finish your homework"

"Can Henry stay with us today Aunt Emma?" Roland asked "I want to watch the Potter movie today"

"We can watch it another day", Henry said looking at his mom. He wanted to go and watch the movie but he also wanted to be with his mom, especially after what happened today.

"Roland, we can watch the movie another day" Regina said

Roland started to pout.

"That's ok, you can go Henry" Emma said smiling at Henry. She knew that he wanted to go. "I will see you tomorrow for lunch?"

"Are you sure Miss. Swan?"

"Yeah, I mean watching the first Harry Potter movie for the first time is exiting. Right Roland?" Emma asked. Roland nodded happily "You will love it by the way"

Henry hugged Emma and Emma hugged him back. "I will see you tomorrow kid"

"Ok" Henry said still hugging his mom. He knew she needed it. "I love you mom"

"I love you too kid" She said.

Emma walked back to the apartment alone. She was thinking about what her son had said back at the dinner. Moving out? Should she move out? A part of her wanted to stay with her parents, she had finally find them. She finally had what she always wished for when she was just a little girl...a very lonely little girl. But did she really? Her parents were not the same. They didn't ask her how her day went anymore. They didn't check on her every minute of every day. Her father had stop bringing her bear claws to the station. Her mother hadn't share a hot chocolate with her in what felt like forever. What had she done? Was she loosing them? A part of her wanted to believe that she was imagining things that her parents weren't going to replace her or forget about her, but an other part of her was scare.

She finally arrived at the apartment. The first thing she saw was her father sitting at the kitchen island by himself.

"Hey dad" She said as she approached him "Where is mom?"

David didn't move, he continued to just sit there.

"David?" Emma said a little alarmed, touching the shoulder of her father to get his attention " did something happen?"

"What? No, no" He said a little exasperated "Why would you think that?"

"Well I called you and you did even acknowledge me", She said a little hurt.

"Well sorry" He said standing up, not even acknowledging her feelings "I'm going to bed now" He just walked away from her without saying good night.

Emma didn't move from the place she was standing. She felt tears beginning to form in her eyes. Her vision blurred because of her tears.

She angrily wiped the few tears that did feel from her eyes. She walked upstarts to her room. She lies down in bed and finally lets the tears fall freely realizing that her worst fear was becoming reality. She was losing her parents.

 **This is my first fanfic. Please let me know what you think! Should I continue it? By the way there is going to be a lot of angst and definitely a lot of Charming family feels, and new and strong friendship bonds between Emma and some of our favorite female characters.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Want to know what hurts the most?_

 _Having to pretend it doesn't hurt at all_

Emma didn't sleep that night. She turned and turned all night in her bed. Her mind going a hundred miles and hour. Her heart beginning to break with every breath. The only times she actually slept, she dreamed about all those foster families that left her, all those people who told her that she wasn't good enough, that she wasn't worth the trouble. She took her phone and saw that it was 6:00 am, she decided to get out of bed, take a shower and get out of the house before her parents. She knew that she didn't have the energy to hid her emotions, to pretend that she didn't mind that her mother didn't made breakfast for her, that her father didn't smile when she walked down the stairs.

She took a shower, got dressed and walked out the door. She cheeked her phone again. 7:05. She decided that she was going to walk to Granny's, where she left her car last night. The air was chilly causing Emma to hug herself. She didn't want to think; she didn't want to feel.

"Hey!" She heard Red behind her "What on earth are you doing?"

Emma didn't want to see anybody. Especially a close friend of her parents, so she pretended that she didn't hear her.

"Emma wait" Red said catching up to Emma "Is everything ok" She asked concerned.

"Yes Red, everything is fine" Emma said looking everywhere but Red.

Red knew that Emma was not fine; she looked as if she hadn't sleep at all last nigh. She looked tired. Then Red remembered what had happened last night at Granny's. Now she knew that something was indeed really wrong at the charming household.

"No is not" Red said taking Emma by the shoulders "Emma what is it?"

"I said is nothing ok" Emma snapped.

"No, not going to happen" Red said stubbornly "I let you out the hook last night, but now you are going to tell me what is going on"

Emma didn't answer her. She knew that Red would always be in the side of Snow and David, after all THEY were her friends, and Emma wasn't.

Red knew that Emma wasn't going to answer her, so she decided to take it out of her with some hot coco.

"Come on" She said leading Emma to granny's "Let's get some hot coco, it's frizzing out her"

For some unknown reason Emma let Red take her to Granny's. A part of her was screaming telling her to tell Red to mind her own fucking bussiness, but another part of her wanted, needed, to talk to someone. Maybe Red could tell her that she was imagining things, that her parents still love her. Maybe then, the little voices inside her head will stop telling her that it was happening again, that she was loosing the people she love.

"Take a sit at the bar and I will go get us some hot chocolate" Red said in a low voice.

"Wherever" Emma said, as she was sitting at the bar.

Red went into the kitchen to prepare some hot coco, she still had about half an hour to talk to Emma before opening Granny's to everybody else.

"What are you doing?" asked Granny

"Good morning to you too Granny" She said as she poured the hot coco, adding some cinnamon to Emma's "I saw Emma walking in the street no long ago. I know something is wrong, she won't tell me so I will get it out of her with some hot coco"

"Oh I see" Granny said "Using the Mary Margaret method. Is the girl ok?" She asked suddenly concerned. She knew that Emma wasn't a morning person and that she will never wake up early out of free will

"I don't know" Red replied "Remember what I told you yesterday?"

"Yes I do"

"I think it has something to do with that whole Snow and David thing"

"I am not surprise," Granny said raising an eyebrow "I have notice that Snow and David are acting weird lately"

"What do you mean?" Red asked surprised

"Well for once, David hasn't bought any bear claws in the last weeks. I know he used to buy them from Emma. Secondly, when was the last time you saw Snow get lunch with Emma?" Red didn't answer, "Exactly, I didn't say anything because I knew that you were going to tell me that I was imagining things and so on"

Red tried to remember the last time she saw Snow and Emma eat lunch together. She was sure it was before the capture of the Snow Queen. Why hasn't she noticed before?

"Here you go", said Red as she handed Emma her hot coco and a bear claw "Granny told me to give you a bear claw"

"Thanks" said Emma taking the bear claw and taking a sip of her hot coco. The warmth of the drink made her stomach feel warm and good, but her heart still ached, as if somebody was squeezing it.

"So" Red started looking at Emma "How are things going at home?"

"Wow you are one of those" Emma answered "Going right to the point"

"Well yeah, sorry to inform you sheriff but you are not the only one who has Davis's tact"

"What do you want to know Red?" Emma asked getting a little exasperated. She was starting to get mad at herself. She was letting get her emotions get the best of her. She was so good at hiding her feelings, so good at building a wall around herself, but all of that changed thanks to her parents. Now she was feeling vulnerable like so many years before.

"I want to know what is bothering you Emma" Red began "I want to help you Emma. What happened last night? Henry calling Snow by her course name and you wanting to move out..."

"I didn't say that I wanted to move out, Henry told me that it will be a good idea if we get our own place"

"Ok then why does Henry want to move out?"

"Because of me" Emma babbled, "I think he wants to protect me, which he doesn't have to do by the way. It was my fault, I let it happen, I wasn't strong enough to hide it"

"Hide what Emma? Protect you from what?" Red asked getting a little nervous of the answer that Emma might give her. Emma didn't answer; she was looking down at her hot coco with a distressed face. "Is it your parents Emma? Does he want to leave because of them?"

"No, well kind of..." Emma led out a breath "It's my fault"

"No is not your fault Emma" Red said taking Emma's hand "Just tell me, sometimes we just need to let everything out"

Emma looked up and saw Red's concerned face. Maybe she was right, maybe she needed to tell somebody how she was feeling.

"I just, for the last month or so, my parents have been acting...distant...it started with simple things. My mother forgetting to make me my morning coffee, my father not bringing me bear claws to the station. You know my mother used to give me this happy face when I walked in to the apartment, now she doesn't even acknowledges me" Emma began to explain to Red what had been happening for the last month. Red listened attentively.

"I know that I am probably sounding like a brat who needs attention and is jealous of her little brother but..."

"No, you don't sound like a brat" Red interrupted Emma "I just can't believe that they will do something like that to you Emma"

"Well of course you don't believe me" Emma said defensively "they are your friends, and I am just..."

"You are my friend too Emma" Red gave Emma reassuring smile and taking her hand "I just don't understand why they would be acting like that. Emma if you need to talk to anybody please come to me, I care about you"

"Thanks Red" Emma said with a little smile "For everything, I really needed to get that out"

"That's what friends are for" Red winked at Emma.

Emma got out of the chair and was heading to the door when she heard Red said "Speaking of friends, me and Belle are having lunch together today. Do you want to join us?"

"Yeah, sure" Emma said giving Red a little smile.

Regina was at her kitchen preparing breakfast for her family. Her family, she couldn't believe that she was finally happy. She had a new adorable son and a man who loves her. She had to be honest, she owned a lot of this to Emma, she had promised her that she was going to help Regina find her happy ending. And that she did.

"Hey mom" Henry said walking into the kitchen. Regina jumped a little not expecting Henry to be awake at that hour.

"Easy there, easy there, did I scare you?" Henry said with a little grin.

"You didn't scare me" Regina said getting some eggs out of the refrigerator "You just surprised me a little, what are you doing awake anyways?"

"Couldn't sleep" Henry shrug

"Having Harry Potter nightmares too?"

"Harry Potter nightmares?" Henry asked a little confused, and then he remembered Robin's face when Quirell took the turban off his head. He let out a laugh. "Please don't tell me that Robin is having nightmares about Voldemort!"

Regina smiled when she saw Henry laugh. Last night had been fun, but she also notice that Henry would get into his own little world from time to time.

"Yep, he is" She said.

Henry and Regina looked at each other and they started laughing so hard that Regina had to lean in the kitchen island and Henry had to sit in one of the chairs. After a long moment they both stopped.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" Regina asked in a more serious tone.

"I just couldn't"

"Henry?" Regina said raising an eyebrow "I know you better than that. Was it because of Emma? What really happened last night? Why didn't you guys eat with the not so charmings?"

Henry let out a breath and told Regina what had happen.

"I just don't want her to get hurt again mom" Henry explained Regina "During that year, well you know with the new memories that you gave me...ummm...I remember her telling me how hard her life was in the foster system. And I just, I don't want anybody to break her heart again"

"Henry, I totally understand that you want to protect Emma, but she is a strong woman and I am sure she appreciates you trying to protect her but..."

"But nothing" Henry argued "You don't know what she went trough mom, we were...we _are_ really close. When I got my memories back one of the first things I asked her was if all those things she used to tell me about her childhood were true. She told me that they were true. In that moment I made a promise, I promise myself that I will not let anybody break my mother's heart again. I will keep that promise no matter what"

Regina looked at Henry. He wasn't a shy little boy anymore; he was a young man that will do anything to protect his mother. She could see a little spark in his eyes. Regina knew that the false memories where Emma had raised him changed him. He was stronger.

"She is really lucky to have you Henry" Regina said, "If you need anything...if you need help to keep that promise. I will help you"

"Really!?" Henry said exited.

"Really" Regina confirmed smiling at Henry "I think I own her that much"

"Great, because I was actually going to ask you if you knew who owns the white house, the one that is by the lake"

"Ummm" Regina said thinking "Gold...well now Belle I think. Why?"

"I want my mom to get her own place...our own place. I think it will be good"

"Maybe you should talk to Emma first?" Regina suggested

"Will do"

Emma was sitting at her desk when she received a text from Henry.

-Good morning mom! :)

-Good morning kid, how was movie night?

-It was fun actually, Roland kept telling us the parts that were in the book but not in the movie and Robin had nightmares about Voldemort

-Hahahaha! At least I know what I'm gonna be in Halloween

-That will be epic! How did you sleep?

-Good

-Mom?

-Ok, I've had better nights of sleep

-I bet that if we had our own house you could sleep better.

Emma looked at her phone. Apparently her son really wanted them to get their own place. She couldn't blame him, she actually was thinking about moving out of the Charmings house. She could easily sell her place in New York and buy a house here in Story Brooke.

-Yeah, I bet

-Specially if it had a lake view

-Wow, you are good kid, you are not giving this up right?

-Nop, I am really stubborn. I blame my mother ;)

-Ok, kid I will look up into that

-Belle owns it

-Ok

-Mom? Don't you want to move out?

-I'm having lunch with Belle and Red today. I will talk to belle about the house and I will have an answer by dinner ok?

-Great!

Once Emma put the cellphone down, the phone in the station rang. It was a call about someone teens messing around with some small fireworks.

"Everything ok sheriff" David asked as he walked in to Emma's office.

"Just some kids, playing with some fireworks and scaring the neighbors dog" She said as she stood up and started to put her jacket on "Lets go then"

"Actually" David said taking a step back "I think I can handle it myself, I mean I kind of like to drive alone, if that is ok with you sheriff"

"Sure, yeah" was the only thing that Emma could said.

"Great" David said. He took the car keys and left.

Emma took of her jacket. She felt numb. Her father used to love when they would go out and "solve" some problems. He use to call them their little adventures, he would make his dad jokes in car while they were in their way to a scene. She felt a sharp pain again, a pain that she was used to feel when she was just a little girl. She remembers all those foster parents whispering how much of a burden she was, that they could get a better kid. Emma fell to her chair looking up at the ceiling as a single tear started to roll down her check.

Emma walked into Granny's and immediately saw Red sitting at a booth with Belle. There were about seven other people there, so it wasn't that still felt numb; the little "talk" with her father left her numb; she knew that the pain would come full force later. It always does. But for now she was going to keep it in, she was going to pretend just for a moment that everything was fine.

"Hey!" Red waved to Emma "I'm glad you could make it"

"I never said I wouldn't" Emma answered as she approached the booth.

"You know what I mean" Red said sliding in the booth so Emma could sit next to her.

"Thanks" Emma said with a little smile and sat next to Red "Hi Belle"

"Hi Emma" Belle said smiling warmly at her "How are you? How is work?"

"I've been good. Work is actually slow, which is good I guess"

"That's good isn't?" Belle asked, "I mean, you really need a break from battling wicked witches and snow queens"

"Yeah" Emma said looking at Belle. "What about you? How is everything going?"

"Good I guess. I keep myself busy with the pawn shop and with the other properties that Gold has...had" Belle explained

"Yeah, she practically owns everything now" Red teased Belle "I'm surprise she even talks to me"

"Oh, shut up" Belle said jokingly "I will increase your rent if you don't"

Emma looked at the interaction between Bell and Red and felt a little nostalgic. She missed having a best friend. She missed Mary Margaret, she missed having someone to talk to, someone to joke around with. She missed her mother.

"Speaking of properties you own" Emma started "the house...the one by the lake...do you own it?"

"Yes, why?" Belle said curiously "Are your parents looking for a new house?"

"No they are not, _I_ am thinking about buying a house" Emma said looking at the menu "I think it will be good for me and Henry"

Red was about to say something when the bell in the door rang and Snow walked in, caring Neal in one hand and the baby carrier in the other. She looked happy as if nothing was wrong with her.

Emma also looked up and saw her mother walking in. She wanted to invite her to sit with them. It had been a long time since she had lunch with her mother. She remembered how Snow would always be so happy whenever she had the opportunity to have lunch with her. Where had her mother go?

Snow passed them and sat just right behind the booth where Emma was.

"Hey Snow" Red said

"Oh, hi there" Snow said a little surprise "I didn't see you there"

"Can I see the baby", Belle asked.

"Sure" Snow said walking towards Belle.

"He is so cute!" Belle told Snow as he took the baby in her arms. "He is getting so big!"

"I know right!" Snow said excitedly "It is great to see him grow up, but a part of me doesn't want him to grow up."

Neal was happy in Belle's arms until he saw Emma. Neal started babbling happily and wiggling his arms at Emma.

"Oh ok" Belle tried to keep him settle in her arms "I think he wants his big sister"

Emma's face lighted up and she smiled at her little brother. The first true smile that she have had in what felt like a really long time.

"Hey Neal" She said in a voice that she reserved for her little brother. She stood up and Neal started babbling louder. "Want to spend some time with your big sister?" Emma took Neal from Belle's arms and he immediately clinched to her.

Red watched the little interaction and smiled. She turned her head to look at Snow. Her friend had a pained expression as if she was fighting with herself.

Snow's hearts almost burst for the amount of love she felt when she saw her two children together. Then in a split second she saw herself, she saw all those times when she practically ignored her daughter; she saw Emma's pained face.

 _"Emma please forgive me" Snow wanted to scream to hold her daughter close to her, but something kept her from talking, like a force keeping her trapped in her own body "Emma, I love you, listen to me please!"_

 **Thank you all for the follows and favorites. Special thanks to the people who leave reviews! Please let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

Snow's knees weakened and she almost collapsed. Emma immediately grabbed one of her mother's arms trying to keep her standing.

"Take him!" She told Belle.

Belle took Neal and Emma immediately took Snow by the elbows helping her up. "Are you ok?" She asked worriedly

Snow closed her eyes and when she opened them she looked up at Emma and her expression became unreadable. She immediately yanked her arms violently from Emma's hands.

"Um" Emma said a little taken at aback from her mother's reaction "Are you ok? Do you need me to take you to see Whale?"

"I am ok" Snow snapped, making sure to take some distance between herself and Emma.

"She was just trying to help Snow" Red exclaimed getting a little angry with her friend. When Emma told her how David and Snow had been acting her head believed Emma but her heart was telling her that her friends would never ignore their own child, but now she knew that Emma was right.

"Let's just eat" Emma said sitting down at the booth next to Red, She was trying not to make a scene, which was hard because everybody was looking at them.

Belle gave Neal to Snow and sat down with a confused face. She had never seen Snow snap like that. She couldn't believe that she would act so hostile towards her daughter.

"Are you ok?" Red asked Emma in a low voice, she didn't want Snow to hear her.

"Yes, I am" Emma lied to Red

The waitress brought their food and they started eating in an awkward silence.

"If you want we can go look into... _that_...the thing that you asked me about? I can show it to you whenever you want" Belle suggested trying to ease the tension.

"I would like that, thanks" Emma said, knowing that Belle wanted her to forget about what just happened; wanting to continue the conversation as if nothing had happen. Emma was grateful for this. She was so used to seeing her mother looking at her with a loving gaze that she sure didn't wanted to think of her mother's blanked expression. She decided to put all that aside and actually enjoy lunch.

"Wow" Red chuckled "If I didn't know what you two were talking about I would be worried of what was happening in Story Brooke"

Belle immediately blushed.

"You are making her blush!" Emma slapped Red in the arm playfully

"Well she wanted to show you... _that_ " Red laughed emphasizing the word _that_

"You really need help Red" Belle defended herself "You might want to talk to Dr. Hopper"

"Yeah, and what am I going to say? Hey doctor I need help cuz' I have a really dirty mind?" Red giggled.

They continued eating and talking. Emma felt herself relaxing a little bit, forgetting the little encounters she had with both her parents. She perfectly knew that once she was alone her mind wouldn't stop thinking, trying to reason why her parents were acting that way. She was holding on to the hope that they will change but deep down she knew that she was getting tired, she didn't have the strength to hold on for much longer.

Emma was finishing her drink, listening to Red tell a story of how she used to scare the drunk villagers when she was a wolf. She suddenly heard Snow laugh; she was with Ashley and her baby daughter.

"I swear Ashley, I have never felt so much love towards anybody before" Snow said referring to Neal "I mean I love David but the love that I have for Neal is so different. I've never knew a love so pure"

Emma closed her eyes, she could actually feel the pain in her chest; she could feel like a little part of her heart was broken. Her mother never loved her that way; she had only that kind of love to Neal. She knew she had to get out of there, she needed to get away before her mother completely shatter her heart.

"I have to go," She told Red and Belle in a whisper.

"Emma" Red tried to take Emma's hand, but Emma was already standing

"I have to go" was the last thing Emma said before hurrying out of the dinner.

She got out of the dinner and the fresh air immediately hit her. "Breath in, Breath out, and hold on" she told herself. With every step she took, she could hear her mother's voice and her own heart starting to brake. She needed to spot thinking, stop feeling, so she started to run towards the forest. She _needed_ to run. She felt that if she ran fast enough she could leave her worries and fears behind. She began to run faster, all she could see were the shapes of the tress as she passed them by. She didn't knew where she was, or how much time she had been running, all she knew was that now the only thing she could feel was the pain in her legs and the pain in her lungs telling her to stop. She was struggling for air. She knew that if she ignored her body and kept running she was going to pass out so she stopped running. She bended down with her hands in her knees, puffing for air. She was exhausted and tired of holding on. She collapsed to the ground, her back to the tree, and her knees up to her chin. She just wanted someone to be there, but she knew that nobody was going to be there. She had to be strong for herself; she had to keep herself up. It was so hard. She knew her heart wasn't broken, she had only experience one really broken heart before, and even tough her heart hurt like hell, she knew that it wasn't broken, it was just bent. For once in her life she wished for everything to be simple, she wished for someone to save her, someone to help her. But nobody was there.

"Emma?" She heard Regina whisper.

 **So, I am trying to develop a good and strong friendship between Emma, Regina, Belle and Red. Yazmin (I love your name by the way) all I have to say to answer your question is "sorry" and get your self emotionally ready ;) Again thanks for reading everyone! And please let me know what you think! I don't think this story will be over soon, so don't worry.**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Hey everyone! First of all thank you for the reviews! This chapter is going to be long because I couldn't update over the weekend because it was my birthday and I went to Disneyland! Anyways, I hope you like it, there's going to be some MamaSnow in this chapter so get ready! And for the DadyCharming lovers out there, don't worry I love David as much as I love Snow, so we will have some David/Emma flashbacks in the next episodes, and we will see more of Hook in the following episodes too. Please review!_**

Regina was walking back to her house when she heard someone running, she immediately recognized the blond. She knew that something was wrong; Emma was running as a possessed woman, as if something was following her. She decided to follow the blond, when she found her, she saw a defeated Emma.

"Emma are you ok", Regina asked again. Emma didn't answer. Regina knew that the savior was trying to get her emotions at check again before facing her. She knew that Emma wasn't going to talk, so she decided to take a different approach "Remember what you said to me not long ago? You said that we understood each other, that we both understand what it feels like to be misunderstood and rejected. I also understand what it feels like to pretend that everything is fine when you know it isn't"

"I just need to be alone," Emma said not looking up at Regina.

"Nobody _needs_ to be alone Emma" Regina said, "I know because I used to tell myself that. The truth is that when you say that you want to be alone is the time when you need someone to be with you the most"

Emma finally looked up at Regina and she saw that she actually cared about her. Maybe the whole time they spend trying to kill the wicket witch and the snow queen served as bonding time between the two of them.

"It just, it sucks!" Emma expressed "I thought that my life was finally coming together, that I was finally going to be able to breath a little, but then suddenly my life started to fall apart again"

"Emma your life is not falling apart. You have Henry that loves you and looks up to you, you have your one handed pirate that loves you too" Emma immediately looked up again with wide eyes "Oh come on Emma! Don't deny it. I mean you two are always making eyes at each other; it's pretty obvious actually. You also have Red and Granny that would do anything for you. And you also have an entire town that loves you. So don't come and tell me that your life is falling apart. What your parents are doing might be hurting you but I am sure..."

"Wait" Emma immediately interrupted Regina "Who told you about my parents?"

Dam it! Thought Regina, she wasn't supposed to know "Henry" Regina breathed out "But before you get mad that he told me about what was happening, you have to know that he only told me because he was worried about you"

"I am not surprise he told you " Emma said as she began to stand up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Regina said a little taken at back

"I mean he doesn't hide secrets from the ones he loves", She said as she shook the dirt out of her jeans "I am not upset by the way"

"Good, because he is only looking out for you"

"I know" Emma agreed "He is so young but so mature, I cant believe he is mine"

"Well, I did raised him" Regina said with a little smile "so you are welcome"

"Wherever, It was really hard and awkward to talk to you when you were standing up and I was sitting down by the way"

"Did you expected me to sit in the ground next to you and hold your hand" Regina said sarcastically "Besides I am a queen and I do not sit in the ground"

"Wow, sorry...thanks tho...you know for the little pep talk"

The wind started to blow hard and the clouds started to darken

"Come on, lets go Pocahontas" Regina said looking up at the sky

"Pocahontas? What the hell!" Emma asked following Regina

"Well you were under the tree looking all sad"

Emma let out a little laugh "That girl must have been high or something...looking faces in the trees and shit"

Regina laughed, "For god shakes Ms. Swan!"

"Where are we going by the way?" Emma said as she kept following Regina "And what where you doing here?"

"We are going to my house before it starts to rain, and I was visiting the grave of my parents"

"Um, ok, just one more question. Why am I going to your house?"

"I think Henry has to ask you something"

"Is it about the house?" Emma said.

"So he told you already" Regina said looking at Emma "He mentioned it to me today. I have to be honest he is really exited about it"

"Yeah, I know" Emma agreed

"What about you? Do you want to get your own place?" Regina asked

Emma thought about that for a moment "Yes I do, I mean a part of me was hoping to get a little more time to be with my parents, but they don't...they just...you know"

"You are really eloquent" Regina snared "And if you need help getting everything ready...I can help you if you want"

"Yeah" Emma smiled "I'd like that, thanks. I just don't want to tell my parents right now"

"Ok I understand" Regina nodded.

The wind started to blow harder and rain started to pour down. Emma was about to start running when she felt Regina take her hand. The next thing she knew she was in Regina's living room.

"Magic of course" Emma said feeling a little disoriented bending over "I have to get use to this" she breathed out.

"You will" Regina said trying to contain her laugh. Emma was looking impressed and dizzy at the same time.

"Go ahead, laugh" Emma hissed, still trying to make her head stop spinning "I dare you"

Regina couldn't hold it anymore she let out a loud laugh. Emma looked up and smiled, the former Evil Queen was laughing her ass off. It was nice to see her finally happy. At least somebody got their happy ending.

"Mom, I tough I heard you" Henry said walking down the stairs. "Both of you"

"Gina! Aunt Emma!" Roland's voice came from upstairs.

"Don't run down the stairs Roland" Regina said as she controlled her laughter and walked towards the stairs

"Gina!" Roland sad exited as he jumped from the last couple of stairs to Regina's arms.

"Hey mom" Henry said giving Emma a hug "What are you doing her?"

"Hey Kid" Emma said hugging Henry tight "I umm...I just wanted to see you"

"Are you going to stay for dinner aunt Emma?" Roland asked as he got down from Regina's arms.

"Hi, my lady" Robin said walking down the stairs, He gave Regina a hug and a kiss in the check "Hi, Emma, good to see you"

"Good to see you too Robin" Emma smiled at him

"Do you know that we are going camping tomorrow Aunt Emma?" Roland asked excitedly jumping up and down "Just like we used to when we were back home. We are going to take Henry too! It's going to be so fun"

"Yes, I know kid" Emma smiled at the kid, it was impossible not to feel happy when a kid as energetic as Roland was around "I don't know if I like the idea that girls are not allowed though"

"Oh, well" Roland shrug "You can have a girls-only camp while we are away"

"To be honest I don't know how the girls in Story Brooke are going to defend themselves without us man here, right boys?" Robin said with a grin.

Henry laughed "To be honest, I don't know how _we_ are going to defend ourselves without them"

"Hey" Robin said pretending to be angry "What side are you on?!"

"Sorry Robin" Henry shrug "I was raised by two strong woman I can't just say that about girls"

Emma and Regina looked at Henry and then at each other. They both just smiled. Emma half hugged Henry from the shoulders "That's my son" Said Emma proudly.

"Our son" Regina corrected "What about you Roland? Which side are you on?" Regina asked with a raised eyebrow and a little smile.

Roland looked from Regina to Robin and he slowly walked to Regina. Regina immediately smiled and gather him in her arms "Smart boy" She told him.

"Wow that really hurt" Robin said as he put a hand in his chest pretending to be wounded in the heart "I can't believe that my own son will do that to me"

"I love you papa, but Gina and Aunt Emma are really strong"

"Sorry Robin" Henry said walking up to him and petting him in the shoulder "But that is true"

The rain started to pour heavily, and the wind to blow faster and stronger. And a loud thunder was heard. Roland who was in Regina's arms clung to her tighter. Robin and Henry jumped a little. The only ones who looked unaffected by the loud sound were Regina and Emma.

"Wow, the storm just got heavier" Emma chuckled "If this keeps going I think the Boys-only camp will need to be canceled"

"No!" Robin, Roland and Henry said in unison.

"Emma is right" Regina agreed, "If this storm doesn't stop you will have to stay"

With that Regina decided that it was time to start preparing dinner. Roland and Robin decided to go and "help" Regina make dinner, so Henry and Emma stayed in the living room.

"Mom, I have to tell you something" Henry said sheepishly "Could we um...go to my room and talk?"

"Yeah, sure kid" Emma answered a little worried of what Henry might tell her. Henry led her to his room and he sat down at the bed, Emma decided to sit down next to him. Henry was looking down at his hands without saying a word.

"So" Emma began "What's up kid? Is everything ok?

"No, well technically yes, but no" Henry confessed "I called Rosie today"

"Rosie? Like the Rosie from New York? The real estate Rosie" Emma said a little surprised.

"Yeah that Rosie, I told her that you wanted to sell the apartment in New York and that we needed someone to pack all our things and send them to Maine" Henry said closing his eyes, waiting to hear her mother scold him.

Emma just sat there a little dumbfounded. She knew that she had agreed to consider the possibility of moving out of the charming household, but was Henry moving too fast, or was she moving to slow?

"I am not mad kid, so relax" Emma reassured him "I am just...why? Why did you do that without asking me first?"

"I am sorry mom, I guess I wasn't thinking. You are right, I should't have done it sorry" Henry signed looking sad.

Emma didn't know if she was mad because her son did something that important behind her back or if she was proud because she knew that her son only wanted to protect her. She was now 70% sure that she wanted to get out of the charming household, she knew that they weren't going to miss her anyways. She could tell that her son was feeling bad about what he did, and she didn't want him to feel bad about looking out for her.

Emma half hugged him and said "Don't worry kid, I know why you are doing this and thanks, but I am still not sure of when or _if_ we are moving to that house or any other house. I know I told you that I would give you an answer by dinner but this is a big step and selling our house in New York is even a bigger steep for me, so just give me some time ok?"

"Ok mom, but not so much time tho. What if someone buys the house first. I mean that is the perfect house for us. The back yard leads to the forest and we will basically have a lake as our front yard"

"Why that house though?" Emma asked, there were other houses un-occupied in storybrook, she was curious of why he choose that house.

"Well I think that house is going to be good for the three of us, it has a little something for all of us"

"Wait three of us?" Emma whispered knowing who that third person was

"It has the forest near and you like to walk in the forest when you feel stressed out or when you need time to think. It has the lake... I tough Killian might like it I know is not the ocean but you know...and it's not that far from here so I will be able to visit my other family too. See? Everybody wins" He finished with a grin.

How was she supposed to answer to that? When he put it that way, it really did seemed like the perfect house for them. Them. Oh my god did she just said them? She knew that her relationship with Killian was good and solid but living together? As a family? She sure had to think more about that.

Henry saw her mother's face and couldn't help but smile "And the best part" He said mischievously "It has four rooms, you know if you want to extend the family"

Emma immediately looked at him with a surprised expression. Henry let out a laugh and gave her mother a pat in the knee "I was just saying, no pressure"

"Oh by the way mom, Rosie told me that someone went to our apartment looking for us"

"Who" Emma said immediately

"Rosie told me that she didn't remember their names, that it was a couple in their late forties and she told me that you can call her tomorrow to get everything ready"

"Ok, I will call her...I wonder who these people are"

Henry showed Emma what he was going to take to the only-men camp. They had planed this camp for the last weeks; Robin and his merry men were going to take Henry and Roland to the forest where they will show them how to become merry men. Henry had asked Hook to join them and he had accepted, telling Emma that it would be a good bonding experience for the two of them. At first Emma didn't exactly knew what to say, she felt happy knowing that Kilian and Henry had formed a good friendship and she felt more at ease knowing that Killian will be taking care of her son.

Henry and Emma made their way back downstairs and found Roland and Robin watching some TV in the living room.

"She kicked us out of her kitchen" Robin said like a kid who had been scolded "She is making lasagna"

Henry just laughed and went to sit next to Roland, they were watching the movie How to train your dragon, one of Roland's favorite.

"I'm going to go see if I can help Regina with something" Emma announced.

"I hope she doesn't kicks you out of her kitchen too", Robin said crossing his arms

Emma walked into the kitchen and saw Regina cutting some cheese. "Do you need help?" Emma asked half-heartedly.

Regina looked up and smiled "No thanks, Ms. Swan. I don't want my lasagna to get ruined"

"I am not that bad" Emma grumbled

"Not what Henry told me, and you don't seem like the cooking type"

"May I remind you that I feed our son, and he is healthy and everything"

"May I remind you that I gave you new memories in which you knew how to cook, so that helped. You might remember what to do, but you don't have the skills anymore"

"Why do you always have to win!" Emma exclaimed.

"I will always win...if it's the last thing I do" Regina said in her Evil Queen voice

"Ok, don't do that" Emma said sitting at one of the island chairs "that is creepy"

Regina laughed "the dragon slayer princes is afraid of the evil queen?"

"Pff, please. I am not afraid, I just don't like your evil queen voice, I feel like giving you a sneaker and be like...Regina take this snicker you are not yourself when you are hungry"

"Oh Ms. Swan you are unbelievable" They both laughed.

"Aww look at us laughing and talking like old friends" Emma teased "who would've thought? I mean really. You wanted to kill me since I first set foot in Story Brooke"

"I know" Regina said, "What the hell happened?"

"I think that battling crazy psycho teens, wicked witches and snow queens made us work together which led to this" Emma observed.

"Yeah I guess, and Henry too. Having a son in common helped too" Regina said smiling at Emma. She was happy thinking that she was developing a friendship with Emma. They had a lot of things in common and one of the most important things is that Emma wasn't one of those people who would get offended easily, a quality that Regina found really helpful considering that her since of humor was a little dark.

Once the lasagna was ready they all had dinner while chatting and listening to Robin tell them stories about the enchanted forest. The storm continued with its heavy rain and fast wind. The thunders would make everybody jump.

"Mom, I don't think you will be able to go to the loft," Henry told Emma "The storm is not getting any better"

"You can stay here if you want" Regina offered, "You can stay in the guest room"

"You have a guest room?" Emma asked surprised "How many rooms does this house has?"

"It actually has five rooms", Henry explained while finishing her lasagna "Please mom stay, I don't want you to leave specially when it's raining like that"

"Even if I wanted to leave, I can't. I left the bug at the station" Emma said "So yes, I will stay. I hope I'm not an inconvenience or anything" She finished shyly.

"Nonsense" Robin said, "We are practically family"

"Yes" Roland chimed in "You are my Aunt, remember"

Emma smiled "Then I guess I'm staying here"

Regina smiled at Emma "Ok then, welcome to the Mills-Hood house, I hope you get out of it alive" Regina said in her Evil Queen voice.

"Stop it!" Emma laughed nervously "That's creepy!"

Regina showed Emma the room where she was going to spend the night. It was quite an ample room, it even had it's own bathroom. Emma took off her boots and placed them in the floor. Regina had given her some night cloths to sleep on; she put them on and laid down in bed. She was exhausted, not only physically but also mentally. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but she couldn't. She couldn't stop thinking about her parents, she tried to forget about what was happening but she couldn't. Then she remembered one of the things that one of the nicest foster parents that she ever had told her. They told her that whenever she couldn't sleep, she could think about a special place or a special moment in which she felt safe and loved, that those memories could chase the monsters away. She tried to think of the last time she felt safe and loved. She closed her eyes and started to remember that day. She was son asleep, dreaming of that special moment.

 _The charming family made its way back to the loft. Everybody was exhausted, Specially Emma, she had not only battle and snow queen she had also discovered that she knew her. She was mentally and physically exhausted. She had learned that the snow queen was Ingrid, a woman who had taken care of her when she was just a child. Yes at the end it might've ended bad but she learned to love that woman, one of the few people who had actually cared about her, in her own twisted way of course. Emma decided to take a shower and head out to bed early. Henry was going to sleep at Regina's so she had the room to herself._

 _"Do you want something to eat Emma?" Snow asked as she saw her daughter getting out of the bathroom and walking towards the stairs "I can fix you something up"_

 _"No, I am good thanks" Emma said giving Snow a small smile "I am just tired I'm going to sleep now"_

 _"Ok, sure honey" Snow replied, looking at Emma with a worried face._

 _"Did you see that?" Snow asked David who was at the table having some hot coco_

 _"I think she is just tired Snow, we should leave her to rest a little" David lied to Snow. Emma actually told him on their way back to the loft about the Snow Queen and who she really was. Emma made him promise her that he won't tell Snow about it. She was going to tell her when she was ready._

 _"Charming?" Snow said raising an eyebrow, with her hands in her hips "I might not have Emma's super power, but I know you, and you are not telling me something"_

 _"Snow please, maybe we should head out to bed early too, it has been a long day"_

 _"Yep, not buying it" Snow said sternly "besides what are you tired of? You weren't the one fighting the Snow Queen like Emma or Regina like I did. So tell me what is bothering our daughter, I know you know"_

 _"I can't Snow" David said not looking up at Snow_

 _Snow let out a defeated breath "She doesn't want to talk to me, right?"_

 _"Snow, she is just tired" David said trying to ease Snow's worries._

 _"She is still mad at me Charming" Snow said collapsing in the chair next to David "I know she is mad at me"_

 _"What are you talking about Snow?" David asked a little surprised_

 _"How I yelled at her the day of the accident at the station, and how I pulled Neal from her, Ashley telling me that I was a first time mother" Snow buried her head in her hands "I think I pushed her away charming, that's why she is going to you whenever she has a problem, that's why he asks you to help her every time there is a problem"_

 _"That's not true Snow, your daughter loves you. God she even loved you before she knew you were his mother!" David said taking Snow's hand "I think she comes to me because she feels safe with me, and she knew that you were busy with Neal"_

 _"That's the thing Charming! I don't want her to feel replaced or that she can't ask to have some time with me. I want to be Neal's mom and I want to be Emma's mom too."_

 _David let out a breath "Snow, I think the only reason of why Emma doesn't want to talk to you about that Snow queen is because she doesn't want to get emotional"_

 _"What do you mean?" Snow said looking at charming with unshed tears_

 _"Really? You don't know?" David let out a little laugh "The only person who had break Emma's walls completely is you, you started breaking those walls when you were Mary Margaret, so she can't hold her mask or her emotions with you, you are already inside those walls Snow"_

 _"Really?" Snow said with a hopeful little smile_

 _"Really" David smiled back to Snow "Now go talk to your daughter, she needs you and you need her too"_

 _Snow got up and climbed the stairs to Emma's bedroom a little hesitant, she still believed that her daughter was upset at her, because in reality they hadn't talk about any of the incidents._

 _Once Emma was in her room she immediately pulled the covers off her bed and climbed to it. She got under the covers and she laid in the middle of the bed looking up at the celling. She couldn't stop thinking about Ingrid and how she sacrificed herself to save everybody in Story Brooke. She could remember how Ingrid gained her trust even her love. Yes she had to admit, she learned to love that woman, she was kind to her and she seemed to understand Emma in a way that no other adult had. She would tell Emma that it was ok to be angry about her situation because it wasn't fair how she had grown up. She would treat Emma like an equal, and she always made sure that she felt safe. Now that Emma knew the truth, she understood why Ingrid did the things she did, she just wanted to have a family. Emma couldn't blame her for that; she had always wanted that herself, she was always looking to find a family too. She realized that in a way her and the snow queen weren't that different, they both were once lonely and misunderstood. She remembered the last day she was with Ingrid, it was such a special day, she remembered how loved and special she felt. How she felt that her life was going to change when Ingrid told her that she wanted to adopt her. She really wanted to live with her, to be a part of Ingrid's family. She couldn't keep the tears from falling anymore; she let them flow down her checks. She cried because of how fucking unfair life had been with her, she cried because every time she felt as if her life was going to change for the better it would all just come crashing down, she cried for the woman who had been alone all that time looking for the love of her sisters but she mostly cried because she never got the chance to hug or thank the woman who had brought a little happiness to her sad childhood, the woman who she thought she could call family. She let more tears falls and was trying really hard to contain the sobs that wanted to get out. All of a sudden she heard some soft steeps climbing up the stairs. She immediately turned her body so her back was towards the door. She cleaned her checks and closed her eyes in an attempt to make whoever was walking upstairs think that she was asleep._

 _Snow finally made it to Emma's door and she opened it slowly. She couldn't see Emma's face, so she walked around the bed really carefully not to wake up her daughter. As she walked around the bed she could see that Emma had her eyes closed, but Snow knew that she wasn't sleeping, she smiled and sat in the corner of the bed looking at her daughter. She didn't know if she should tell her daughter that she knew that she wasn't asleep, in reality she didn't know what to say. She reached up and touched her daughter checks. "I know you are not asleep Emma, and I also know that you don't want to talk to me right now" Snow took in a deep breath "I just wanted to tell you that I am sorry, for how I acted when you needed me the most. I should've been there for you when you couldn't control your powers...and I am sorry I wasn't" Snow stopped, her voice was starting to quiver. She closed her eyes trying to keep her tears from falling. She looked at her daughter and saw that she still had her eyes close, she hadn't even moved, not even a little. "I know you are mad at me. I don't blame you by the way. I am mad at myself too. I just wanted to say that I am sorry...and that...Emma I am your mother too even if you sometimes don't want me to be. I'm your mother as much as I am Neals, but what I really want you to know is that I love you Emma, I will always love you" Snow whispered as she began to stand up._

 _Emma had to keep her eyes close; she knew that if she saw her mother she was going to lose it. Snow had this power over her, she couldn't hide her emotions with her, she knew that if she looked at her mothers face the sobs and tears that she was trying to contain will unleash. She herd her mother telling her how she wished she had been there when Emma lost her control and in reality Emma also wished Snow had been there with her. She continued listening to her mother, she could hear the pain and regret in her voice, she knew that Snow was fighting back tears. Like mother like daughter she thought. As soon as she felt the bed move announcing that her mother was standing up, she reached out and grabbed her mother's hand. "Don't," Emma whispered._

 _Snow gasped a little when her daughter took her hand. She smiled trough her tears and sat down at the bed again. Snow squeezed Emma's hand lightly to let her know that she wasn't leaving. She could see her daughter struggling to sort out her Emotions, so she waited patiently looking at her. Emma controlled herself a little and opened her eyes to look at Snow._

 _"Oh Emma" Snow said as she saw her daughters red eyes. She immediately knew that Emma had been crying, "What's wrong sweetheart?"_

 _"She was nice to me" Emma said as she let out the sob that she was so hard to hide. Snow immediately moved next to her daughter a she gather her in her arms. Holding her close to her, Snow let her daughter cry. Emma let her mother hug her; she really needed someone to hold her, someone to provide her the motherly comfort that was denied to her so many years ago. Snow's heart almost broke to hear her daughter cry like that. "It's ok Emma, I'm here, I got you" Snow whispered to Emma. Snow began to rock her not so little baby the best she could. She assumed that the woman that Emma was referring to was the snow queen. "Do you want to talk about it?" Snow asked as she kissed Emma's temple. Emma closed her eyes, that gesture was so pure and motherly. "Before she sacrificed herself she gave me my memories back. She was my foster mother...and I... she was one of the best fosters mothers I had...actually I only had three fosters homes where I felt safe and loved" Emma said trough sobs. Snow had to contain her own tears, knowing that her daughter only know so little love during her early life broke her heart. Snow hugged her daughter tighter and kissed her head._

 _"Why does everybody that I love leave me? Why can't something work out for me for once?" Emma cried. Snow finally let her own tears fall freely. "I won't ever leave you again Emma" Snow promised as she stroked Emma's hair. Emma wrapped her arms around her mother's waist resting her head in Snow's chest. She felt safe and loved in her mother's arms. Snow's heart filled with so much happiness when her daughter hugged her tight. She had been waiting so long to be able to have her daughter like this, close to her, helping her feel safe and loved in her arms._

 _"You don't have to feel bad", Emma stated, "about anything, I understand"_

 _"Emma, honey, I saw your face when I practically pulled Neal away from you" Snow explained, still feeling guilty "I should've reacted differently. I know that hurt you...and I am so sorry"_

 _Emma took in a deep breath. Yes, it had hurt like hell, but deep down she knew her mother was as scare and confuse as herself. "It's ok mom, It did hurt, but I forgive you"_

 _Snow closed her eyes when she heard her daughter call her mom. She could feel her heart beating faster. She wrapped her arms around her daughter's body, bringing her closer to her. "I love you Emma," She whispered as she kissed Emma's temple again._

 _Emma hugged her mother closer and said "I love you too...mom"_

 _"Oh, Emma" Snow breathed out, feeling like her chest could burst from happiness "My baby"_

 _"Mom, I can't breath", Emma muttered and laughed. Snow had hugged her even tighter._

 _Snow let out a little laugh "Sorry" She apologized as she hugged her daughter not as tight, she couldn't let her go now. Not now that she finally had the opportunity to feel like Emma's mother._

 _"Thank you, I really needed to let that out", Emma, said timidly_

 _"That's why I'm here Emma" Snow said as she began to stroke her daughters hair again._

 _"I'm glad you are" Emma said trough a yawn. Snow smiled_

 _"I think you need to sleep now," Snow said as she finally let go of her daughter. Emma didn't move from the position she was in, she still had her arms around her mother and her head was still resting in Snow's chest. She didn't want this to end; she had been waiting as long as her mother to be able to be hugged like that._

 _"Can you stay with me, just for a little while longer?" Emma asked sounding like a child._

 _Snow smiled and took her daughter by the checks "Of course sweetheart" Snow helped Emma lay down in bed again and she wrapped Emma in her arms again. Emma immediately wrapped an arm around her mother and nested her head under Snow's chin._

 _"Good night Emma" Snow whispered giving Emma a last kiss in the head._

 _"Good night mom" Emma whispered before she fell at sleep in her mother's arms._


	5. Chapter 5

Emma woke up before anybody else in the Mills household. She could still remember that dream or memory in which her mother had hold her close, in which she felt so loved and wanted by Snow. She had to close her eyes tight to try and keep the tears in. She was tired of crying because of her parents. She was tired of feeling helpless. She wanted to go to them and confront them, to ask for an explanation, to ask them why they acted as if she didn't mattered anymore, but she knew she couldn't...she was afraid of their answer.

As if on cue her phone rang, she took it out of her pocket and saw Killian's photo.

"Hi Killian" She answered

"Hi love, where are you?" She heard Killian's voice. She stood up and began to change.

"I'm at Regina's why?" She asked

"Well, I was hoping to have breakfast with you, you know before we go to our boy-only camp"

"I thought that was canceled" Emma said, "Regina and I agreed that if the conditions were bad, the camp would be canceled"

"The sky looks blue Swan, I am sure it won't rain anymore"

"How are you so sure"

"I am a pirate after all, I know about this"

"Ok, I trust you captain" Emma said smiling "I will see you at granny's in thirty minutes"

"Ok love, I will see you there" Killian said

Emma dressed and walked downstairs; she slowly opened the door and walked out. She made its way to granny's thinking about the last day's crazy events. She felt like she was losing her parents but at the same time she felt that she was gaining some friends. Emma walked into Granny's and saw Killian sitting at the circular booth; he immediately looked up and gave her one of his dashing smiles. Emma smiled back and sat next to him.

"It's great to see you love" Killian said kissing her in the lips. Emma immediately pushed him to her deepening the kiss. She needed this; she needed him.

"You guys are worst than horny teenagers," Red said approaching them giving them a little smile. "What can I get to my horny teens?" She asked playfully.

Emma blushed and Killian only gave Red a little wink. "The usual Red"

Red took their order and went back to the kitchen; Emma just snuggled next to Killian putting her head in his shoulder.

"So, Red told me what happened yesterday" Killian said as he put his arm around Emma's shoulder.

"Did she?" Emma asked not amused. She knew that Red was only looking up for her, but she couldn't help to feel a little upset.

"Don't be mad at her love, she wanted me to make sure that you were ok...are you?"

"No", She couldn't lie to him "I am not ok, but I will be, I just need some time" Emma answered snuggling closer to him. She always felt safe in his arms, as if his arms were a barrier that kept all the worries and monsters away.

Killian kissed her temple and said, "Of course love"

Red came back with their food and she couldn't help but let out a little "Aww" when she saw Emma and Killian "See! This is better than making up in the booth"

Emma moved out of Killian's arms to start eating her food.

"Remember that I told you that Henry wanted to move out"

"Yey" Killian answered.

"Well he called this lady that we know in New York and told her that I wanted to sell my apartment and that we needed all our stuff to be send to Main"

Killian let out a laugh "That lad is persistent isn't he? He reminds me of this one person that I know, super stubborn"

"Hahaha really funny" Emma said playfully punching him in the ribs with her elbow.

"How do you feel about selling your apartment in New York" Killian asked seriously.

"I just, I don't know" Emma said, "I think is a big steep"

"You are afraid Swan" He said seriously "The apartment in New York is your safe haven isn't it? You think that no matter what, that if something goes wrong you have a home somewhere else...where you could run to" Killian couldn't help but feel sorrowful about the fact that Emma still though of New York as a home.

"How do you know", Emma asked in a whispered without looking at him.

"The Jolly Roger was my safe haven. I always knew that if something went wrong or if I just felt the need to flea a place I could just take my ship and go"

The Jolly Roger, the ship that he had traded for her. She felt like the worst person on the planet, he had traded his ship, his safe haven for her and here she was telling him that she didn't wanted to sell hers because she was afraid.

"I am sorry" Emma said looking up at him "I whish I could give you your safe haven back"

"You did love" Killian said looking deep into her eyes "YOU are my safe heaven"

Emma felt the tears building up in her eyes, she wanted to say something but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. She moved closer to Killian and put her lips to his. She started to tenderly kiss him, he responded by taking her by the checks and pull her closer to him. They got lost in each other until they heard someone.

"Really?! Again?" Red said she said as she took their empty plates.

"Sorry" Emma whispered

"I'm not," Killian said smiling.

Red took the plates and left them alone again. Emma looked up to Killian and smiled "So captain, do you have everything ready for your boys only camp?"

"I believe I do love" Killian said taking her hand "the lad and Robin made sure that I had everything"

"I don't want you to leave" Emma said sincerely

"I don't want you to leave either" He said kissing her temple"But don't worry love it will only be two days, I think you could manage without me, besides the lad and me will have some time to get to know each other better"

"Oh come on! You guys are practically together everyday. I sometimes even thing that he likes you better"

"Oh love don't get jealous, let's just say that the lad and I have a common goal" He said looking at her.

"Make me crazy?"

"Protect you and love you" Killian said "Remind you that you are not alone anymore"

"I know and thank you, I don't know what I would do without you two" She said giving him a last kiss.

Killian went to his room at Granny's to get the stuff that he was going to need for the camp, while Emma went to the sheriff's office to set up the phone to send all the calls to her cellphone. Today was David's day off so she was alone. Killian and Emma decided to meet with Henry at Regina's, where the boys will gather and leave to their camp.

Emma walked into the station, she had been thinking about what Killian had told her, that she was his safe heaven. She never imagined being the safe heaven of anybody. How could she be his safe heaven? She was so confused, she knew she loved him but for some reason she wasn't ready to tell him that, even though he practically said it when he confessed his feelings for her that morning. She set the answering machine to send all the calls to her phone; she couldn't leave the station un-attended. She did some paper work and headed to Regina's after about two hours of paper work. The boys were living at 12 so she still had more than an hour, she drove to Regina's and saw that Killian and all the merry men where already there.

"Hey mom!" Henry said as he approached her to hug her

"Hey kid, do you have everything ready?" She said walking toward the others.

"Yes I do" Henry answered, "You haven't told him, have you?"

"Told who what?" She asked

"Killian" Henry said as if it was the most obvious thing "You haven't told him that he could move to the house with us"

"Ummm no Henry I haven't told him, and I hope you don't tell him either" She said giving him a mom look.

"What? Why? Don't you want him to move in with us?" he asked with a crestfallen expression.

"Yes, well I...I think we..." Emma mumbled

"You are not ready to ask him yet" Henry said "I get it"

"No it's just that we don't even have the house yet so I...I also want him to live with us but I need to get other things ready"

"Ok, I get it mom" He said Smiling at Emma.

"Hey love" Killian asked as Henry and Emma approached him

"Hi Killian" Emma said as she kissed him in the check

"Hey you are finally here" Regina said "These men were driving me crazy"

"Hey!" Robin said, "We are just exited to go back to the forest"

"Can we go now?" Henry asked

"Yes, we are all here, we can leave now" Robin said looking around to make sure that everybody was there.

"Great! Are you ready Killian?" Henry asked Killian.

"I was born ready lad" Killian winked.

"So mom I found our old Walkie talkies, if you need to check on me you just use it ok"

"Wow, I really missed this things and if you need your kick ass mother go save you just use it too ok" Emma said playfully.

"Just like old times" Henry hugged Emma tight "I love you mom"

"I love you too kid" Emma said hugging him back. She didn't knew how she was going to survive without Killian or Henry for two days. They were the ones who kept her sane. Henry went to Regina to say goodbye.

"Don't worry love, I will guard him with my life" Killian declared

"I know you will" She said taking him by the back of his head head and kissing him "Take care Killian"

"You too love" He said smiling back at her. And with that Regina and Emma saw the men leave to the woods, they stood there watching them walked until they were completely gone.

"You look thoughtful, don't worry they'll be safe" Regina said to Emma.

"I know that I was just thinking about something else"

"Do you want to get some coffee at Granny's?" Regina asked. Henry had asked her to not let Emma alone. Emma was a little surprise but accepted Regina's offer. They both headed to Granny's while talking about Henry.

Red was behind the counter talking to Belle when she saw Regina and Emma approach the dinner. "Oh wow, I did not see that coming," She mumbled to Belle.

Belle looked at the two women opening the door "She has change Red"

"I know I've seen her with Roland" She whispered back to Belle "but I can't help to feel uneasy when I see her with Emma"

"What do you mean?" Belle asked confused

"She did tried to kill her" Red responded "And she took her away from her parents"

"Well yeah but as I said before, she has changed. People change Red, Snow and David for example" She whispered the last part.

"Oh hey Belle" Emma said smiling and sitting next to her in the bar, she motioned Regina to sit next to her. Regina just raced and eyebrow and looked at Emma and then at Red who was looking directly at her with a raised eyebrow to. Emma censing the tension between Red and Regina said, "I don't know if you have notice for the absence of ogres and unicorns but we are not in the enchanted forest anymore so please stop looking at each other like that"

"There are not unicorns in the enchanted forest," Red said looking at Emma.

"Actually there are" Belle corrected.

"What?" Red said surprised

"You would think that the wolf girl would know more about beasts," Regina snorted sarcastically as she finally sat down next to Emma.

"Are you calling me a beast?" Red said looking at Regina in the eyes.

"Oh I never said such thing but if the shoe fits..." Regina started

"Ok, Really?" Emma interrupted Regina and looked at Red and Regina "I just want to get some coffee in peace, can you two just cut it out with your little feud?"

"Emma is right" Granny said as she got out of the kitchen and walked behind Red "It's not good for bussiness to have a wolf and a witch fighting"

Emma and Belle let out a little laugh. "Excuse me!" Red and Regina said at the same time.

"Oh cut it out!" She said "I agree with Emma, we are not in the enchanted forest anymore, we should let the past in the past and move on"

Red crossed her arms and looked at her granny. "Oh stop that Red, you better than anyone should know not to judge a person by their past, Regina had change I've seen her with little Roland"

"Thank you" Regina said sincerely to Granny who smiled back to Regina.

"If I've known that you had a soft spot I would've given you a dog" Red said sarcastically.

"Oh no thank you, I just don't see myself raising you" Regina snapped back.

Red was about to answer when she saw Snow and David walked in. David had Neal in his arms and Snow was carrying the baby carrier.

They set themselves in a booth and Snow approached the counter to order. "Oh, hi Belle, Sheriff, Regina" She said looking at each of the girls when she said their names.

Emma felt a little ache in her heart when her mother called her Sheriff, not even Emma. She just nodded and looked down at her coffee.

"Red, I will get the usual" Snow finished and walked back to the booth.

Red and Regina looked at each other, their little feud forgotten. Regina raised her eyebrow as if asking Red if she knew what was wrong with Snow, Red only shrug and gave Granny the order.

Emma was lost in her own little world again. With each day that passed she knew that she was slowly losing her parents and this was just another steep to becoming an orphan again. Them not even calling her Emma was like a stab to her heart, it seemed as if their goal was to break her, to break her already wounded heart. It seemed that they didn't even noticed that she didn't spend the night at the loft. If this had happen a couple of month ago they would've send a search party to look for her, but those people where gone.

"So Emma" Regina said looking at Emma "Did Henry told you that he called this lady in New York?"

"Umm...what?" Emma said getting out of her thoughts "Oh yes he told me"

"So?" Regina said taking a sip of her coffee

"So what?" Emma answered

"Have you made a decision?"

"I think I just did" She said looking over her shoulder to look at her parents and little brother, they looked like the perfect little family, a family that didn't have any more room for her.


	6. Chapter 6

"Belle, when can you show me the house by the lake?" Emma asked Belle as she looked away from the charming family.

"If you want I can show it to you today" Belle said, "I'll just need to go get the keys at the shop"

"Great, Thanks" Emma said taking a sip of her coffee "Would you like to come Regina?" Emma asked Regina.

"Of course, I think you need help with anything bussiness related" Regina smiled to Emma.

Emma excused herself to go to the bathroom. Once she was gone Regina looked up at Red who had just arrived from serving the Charming their food "So, do you know what have gotten into those two idiots?"

"I don't know" Red said sincerely "and please don't call them that, I know they are acting...bad...but they are still my friends, so please don't refer to them like that"

"Fair enough" Regina said looking at Red "I just promised Henry that I was going to keep an eye on Emma while he was gone"

Red smiled "I promised Killian the same thing, but I don't really know how I can help her"

"Sometimes we need people and friends to simply be there...not to fix anything or do anything in particular, but just to let us feel that we are supported and cared about" Belle said thoughtfully.

"Ok Gandhi calm down" Red said playfully to Belle. Regina just laughed.

"Is nice to see that you two had left your differences aside," Emma said as she walked back to the diner island and saw Red and Regina laughing together.

"Well they are laughing at my expense" Belle said with a little pout crossing her arms.

Emma looked at Belle and she immediately reminded her of Mary Margaret, sweet and defenseless. Emma felt her heart hurt a little remembering and missing the woman who gave her a home without asking anything in return. Emma didn't know what came up to her, she half hug Belle over her shoulders "Leave her alone" She said seriously to Red and Regina. Regina and Red looked at each other surprised, Emma wasn't exactly the touchy-feely type, even Belle was a little surprise, but she liked that Emma cared enough about her to defend her.

Belle looked at Red and Regina's expression and stuck her tongue out. Red and Regina started laughing again. Emma just smiled looking at the two laughing "Don't listen to them Belle" She said smiling down at Belle.

"Oh my good Emma I just remembered something that I needed to ask you" Red said

"What" Emma said a little scared

"This morning with Hook" Red said giving Emma a little mischievous smile "I want to know what brought _that_ up"

Emma immediately knew what Red was talking about.

"What is she talking about?" Belle asked curiously.

"Nothing!" Emma said blushing

"Oh my good! It must be good you are blushing!" Red said pointing at Emma's face

"I am not!" Emma defended herself

"Tell me, tell me!" Red said almost jumping up and down.

"For God's sake! You two look like two school girls!" Regina noted

"Really Emma?" Red said ignoring Regina's comment. "I thought we were friends! Friends tell each other that kind of stuff"

"What kind of stuff?" Belle asked again getting curious

"Boys stuff" Red said smiling at Belle

"Umm why don't we go check that lake house out?" Emma said to Belle

"Oh, not fair!" Red whined "Emma you have to tell me! I am really good at that stuff"

"Oh, yeah everybody knows that you are really good at the boys stuff" Regina said sarcastically.

Red gave Regina a wink, she didn't wanted to start a fight, and maybe if she pretended that Regina was her friend that will actually help her believe it herself.

"I don't want to talk about it ok" Emma told Red

"Oh, ok. I see how it is" Red said lowering her head, pretending to be hurt "you don't trust me"

Emma saw thru Red little act, she knew that she wasn't really hurt, she knew that Red was pretending to be hurt to make Emma talk to her.

"I will let you know later," Emma breathed out; she knew that Red could be really persistent.

"Oh come on! I want to know too" Belle said

"Ok then we can have dinner together all of us, so Emma could tell us" Red said excitedly.

Emma just stood there with her mouth open, how did this happen?

"Ok!" Belle said happily as she stood up "Then we will go check the house out and we will see you at dinner"

"Great!" Red said

Regina was as surprised as Emma. Was she invited to a girl's night? I mean she wanted to help Emma, but now she was associating herself with Red and Belle too?

Belle walked out the door followed by a surprised Emma and an even more surprised Regina. They walked to the pawnshop to get the house keys. Once they had the keys they went to the lake house.

As she was driving Emma saw the house, it was a big light blue house. It had a large front porch. Right next to the house was a big tree that had a swing. She smiled thinking that she would've enjoyed living in a house that had a swing when she was younger. She knew that she wanted to give Henry the life that she never had. She pulled in the driveway and got out of the house.

"It is a really nice house" Regina commented

"Yeah it is. Henry has a really good taste," Emma pointed out.

"Come on let's go, I think you'll like the inside," Belle said as she walked to the front door.

Belle gave Emma and Regina a tour of the house; the house had four rooms two of which had their own bathroom. The kitchen was big and the living room was really spacious with a really nice fireplace.

"So what do you think?" Belle said

"I really like it" Emma said looking around the house

"Ok then it's yours" Belle said giving Emma the keys.

"What the hell?" Emma asked surprised.

"It's yours now" Belle said giving Emma a smile

"I am not an expert in these kind of things but I think that I need to pay you first and then sign and other stuff"

"We can do the signing latter" Belle said moving her hand as if that didn't really mattered

"Ummm, you haven't told me how much it costs" Emma asked confused.

"I can't sell you this house Emma! Rumple was Neal's father and Neal was...is Henry's father. I don't think I could take your money, this is practically one of Henry's inheritance"

"I can't accept that Belle, I understand. I do, but I really need to buy this by myself and for myself"

"Emma..." began Belle

"Please Belle, I really need to buy it with my money" Emma insisted,

"Ok, I can see why this is important to the both of you. What if you Belle give Henry something else? Something that he wants from the shop or something like that, so that way Emma can but the house and you can give Henry something from his father" said Regina.

"Ok" belle let out a sigh "I can see that this is important to you Emma"

"Thanks" Emma said smiling at Belle, we just need to discuss the price and everything else"

The three of them talked and settle in a price that was right. Emma knew that once she sells the apartment in New York she would have more than enough money to buy this house. Her apartment in New York was big and was situated in a really nice neighborhood that was safe. For the first time in her life she thanked the high prices of real state in New York. She knew that the money from her apartment would be more than enough to buy a house in Story Brooke.

Belle went to the pawnshop and Regina went to her office. Emma headed back to the station to finish some paperwork. She was working on some paperwork when she saw the clock it was 2:30, the same time when her father used to bring her launch or when they will sit at her office and eat what Snow had given them.

 _David walked into the sheriff station with two bags in his hands. Emma looked up and smiled at him. "Got your lunch princess" David said smiling walking towards Emma._

"Dad! Don't call me princess" Emma said blushing

"Ok princess" David said giving her a charming smile

"I an not a princess" Emma mumbled taking the bag that her father gave her.

"You are not A princess" David said sitting down in a chair in the other side of the desk "you are MY princess"

 _Emma just rolled her eyes. David smiled at her "Was that too corny?" He asked Emma._

 _Emma looked at her father and she couldn't believe that the guy who she disliked once could bring such happiness to her. She always wanted a father like David. A father that would protect her and care for her. "You are just such a Dad that's all" Emma said shrugging wanting not to make a big deal of it._

 _David almost jumped up and down, "you are such a dad," her daughter had said. He just smiled at Emma watching her as if she was the best thing in the world._ _Emma looked up and saw David looking at her like no other man had ever look at her, with a kind of love that she wasn't used to see. She smiled and couldn't help herself but say "You are MY dad," She said repeating the tone that her father had used._

 _David's smiled grew wider he felt tears in his eyes, he wanted to get up and hug her daughter, but he knew better, he didn't want her daughter to feel uncomfortable. Emma knew that her father wanted to hug her; she smiled knowing that he didn't want her to freak out. This was one of the things that Emma loved about her father; he gave Emma the space that she sometimes needed. "What the hell, I finally have parents that love me, I better take advantage of that" She tough as she got up. She walked towards her father and bended down to hug him. "Thanks dad, for everything" She said, knowing that her father would understand what she meant._

 _David was a little surprised at first but when he recovered he wrapped her daughter in her arms. "That's what I am here for Emma"_

 _Emma gave David a shy smiled and returned to her seat. They continued eating and talking. Once Emma was done David got out a little surprise for her._

 _"_ _Here" He said giving Emma a brown paper bag._

 _"_ _Umm Thanks" Emma said taking the bag "I am full though"_

 _"_ _I know, but I don't want you to get hungry, it's for later" David said as he stood up to clean the desk. Emma felt totally moved. Nobody else had ever cared enough about her to get her a snack in case she got hungry. She remembered all those foster homes where the parents wouldn't even give them dinner or lunch sometimes. She was happy that she finally had a father who would do this little tings for her._

 _Emma opened the bag and saw a bear claw, she smiled at David "Thanks dad, you are spoiling me so much"_

 _"_ _Don't tell your mother" David winked at Emma "If she knows that I am giving you sugar she will scream at me"_

 _"_ _Are you afraid of mom?" Emma asked playfully._

 _"_ _Aren't you? She can be really scary when she is mad"_

 _"_ _Tell you what" Emma said mischievously "I won't tell mom that you are buying me sugar goods if you keep bring me bear claws"_

 _"_ _Deal" David agreed happily, she loved spoiling her little princess. He knew that she would've been a daddy's girl if they've had the change to raise her. He would've bought her everything she wanted and now he had that opportunity._

Now here she was...alone again, without a father that would spoil her and make her fell loved. She was tired of feeling sad, she needed something to get her distracted at least until Henry and Hook came back. She decided to call her friend in New York, to let her know that she wanted to sell her apartment and to ask her who were the people who had been looking for her. Apparently Emma was finally getting some luck, her friend told her that one of her cousins moved to New York and that he was looking to buy an apartment immediately and that Emma's was perfect for him since it was already furnished. Rosie told her they could do the signing via fax.

"Oh Rosie, I almost forgot" Emma said, "Henry told me that a couple went to the apartment looking for me?"

"Oh yes! They were a Latino couple they told me that they were looking for you and if I had any information of where you were"

Emma's hearts began to pound, could they be...? No of course not she hadn't seen them since she was a kid. "Did they tell you their name?" Emma asked in a shaky voice.

"Yes, I didn't remember their names when Henry called me but they told me that they were the Leiro no wait Hierlo" Rosie said struggling to remember exactly the name.

Emma immediately paled "Hierro, the Hierro family?" She whispered.

"Yes! Them...do you know them?"

"I...yes. They were...yes I do know them" She said feeling like her heart was going to get out of her chest. "Did they tell you something else?"

"No, they just asked for you and then they told me your name" Rosie explained.

"Thank you Rosie, I will wait for the paper work. I will talk to you later" Emma said before she hung up the phone, she looked up to the ceiling not believing how crazy her life was getting.


	7. Chapter 7

Emma walked into Granny's, she immediately saw Belle sitting at a booth. She smiled and walked towards her "Hey Belle" She said sitting down next to her "Where is Regina?" she said looking at Regina's purse that was in the table.

"Hi Emma, she went to the lady's room. I have all the paperwork ready so we can sign it tomorrow if you want"

"Ok" Emma couldn't believe that everything was going so fast "I just can't believe that I am getting my own house here in Story Brooke"

Belle tilted her head "That is good right?"

"Yeah, yes. Oh my good I got an Idea!" Emma said excitedly "Oh hi Regina"

"Oh good you are planning something aren't you?" Regina said as she sat down in front of Belle "You have that little spark in your eyes, it either means problems or..."

"No it's good. But I am going to need your help" Emma said thinking

"What is it?" Regina asked

"I just think that maybe I...well we can surprise Henry once he gets from the camp"

"How?"

"You know he really wanted to get the house at the lake right? what if we get the house ready and everything for him?"

"Um getting a house ready in less than two day's sounds hard," Belle said

Regina smiled at Emma; she actually really liked the idea of surprising Henry "Not if you have magic"

"Exactly!" Emma said excitedly.

"Wow, why are we exited?" Red said looking at the others. Emma explained Red the idea and she immediately told her that she was going to help too. They ordered their food and they started to eat.

"So" Red said giving Emma a little smile, "I think you need to tell us something"

"Do I really have to?" Emma said looking at Red.

"Yes, you have to" Red insisted "Ok so why were you all snuggle up with Killian? I saw your face Emma something happened, now tell me all about it"

Emma let out a breath and started to tell them what happened with her and Killian that morning and how he told her that she was his safe haven.

"And what did you tell him?" Belle asked intrigued

"I just kissed him and then I asked him if he had his things ready for the camp"

"Oh my god!" Red said bringing her hand to her forehead.

"And I thought that I was the evil queen" Regina added.

"What? Why?" Emma asked Regina and Red "Was that bad?"

"The poor man told you that he loved you..."Red started

"He never said that he loved me!" Emma protested

"He practically did Emma!" Red exclaimed

"She is right" Belle added "I know people have different ways to show you that they love you, and I believe that Hook telling you that you were his safe heaven was _his_ way to say that he loves you" Belle said looking at Emma "And the fact that he gave his ship for you...that is just admirable Emma. He did not only gave his ship for you, he also changed who he was...for you"

"Shit" Emma cursed as she buried her head in her folded arms "I messed up didn't I"

"Well yeah a little bit," Red whispered

Belle gave Red a harsh look "No Emma" Belle explained "I think that he knows that you are not really good at those type of things? Believe me if you had offended him, you would've notice"

"Really?" Emma looked up at Belle.

"Really" Belle smiled warmly at Emma.

"You have to make it up for him though" Red pointed out "I just might have an idea how"

"I don't think I want to listen to that" Regina sneered

"Not that!...that might actually help too" Red said. Emma immediately blushed again.

"I am asking him to move in with me and Henry" Emma blurted out.

Belle and Red smiled bright at Emma.

"I think Henry would like that," Regina pointed out

"Do you think he will want to move with me and Henry?" Emma asked the others

"Yes, I have seen how he looks at you Emma" Red said, "And Henry would love to have him around. He has so many fatherly figures now. Robin, Killian and David"

"Yeah well he has Killian and Robin. David not so much" Emma said in a sad tone.

"I am sorry, I didn't wanted to..."

"No that's ok" Emma told Red "I mean is the truth, I better get used to it again"

"Get used to what?" Belle asked

"To not have them I guess" Emma shrugged

"Have you talked to them?" Regina asked carefully

"No, and I really don't want to right now" Emma answered. She didn't want to talk to them. Her gut kept telling her to avoid them; she knew that if she talked to them, if she confronted them, they might tell her that they don't want her anymore. For this same reason Emma stayed at Granny's that night.

She knew that her parents wouldn't even notice that she wasn't sleeping in the loft. She got in to the room at Granny's and she puffed herself to her room at the loft to get some clothes and puffed herself back to Granny's inn. That night she couldn't stop thinking about Killian. She knew she loved him, and she knew that he loved her too. She just had to tell him how she felt. She was also exited and a little nervous about asking him to move with her and Henry. This would make their relationship even more serious and she found herself liking the idea of the three of them living together.

She had the next day off and she spend it with Regina and Belle buying the things that she needed for the house. She was surprised to find everything she needed in the few stores that Story Brooke had. The process was rather simple they would choose the items they will pay and Regina would puff them in the house. At the end of the day Emma decided that magic was really helpful when it came to moving to a new house. She bought a big bed for her and a medium bed for Henry. She also bought a dinning room a living room and other essentials for the house.

"I think we are going to need help getting everything where it should be, and we also need someone to check the plumbing and the electricity" Regina pointed out "You should ask the dwarfs to help you Emma"

"Why would they help me" Emma asked "can't we check that with magic?"

"I think I skipped that magic lesson" Regina said sarcastically "and they will help because you are you that's why. You really don't know how much people care about you do you?"

Emma didn't know how to answer that, because she really didn't know why would a bunch of people would like her if they didn't even knew her that well.

"Ok, I will ask Tiny to help" Emma concluded, she was friends with tiny so it would be easier to ask him, and she knew that he wouldn't say no.

As it turned out Tiny asked the others dwarfs and they immediately agreed to help Emma. Having another eight pair of hands was really helpful; the house was beginning to look like a home. The dwarfs happily helped Emma with any minor details that the house needed and they also helped to accommodate all the things in their right places.

"So how much do I own you guys for all this?" Emma asked looking around the finished house.

"How much do we own you for saving our ass numerous times?" Grumpy said in her famous grumpy tone.

Emma just looked at them surprised.

"Exactly" grumpy continued, "you don't own us anything sister"

"That's what friends do Emma" Tiny added

"At least let me buy you guys some dinner" Emma insisted

"That we will accept" Grumpy said "and a few beers won't harm either"

"Grumpy!" Doc said,

"He is right" Emma laughed, "I think I need some alcohol myself"

"Oh god!" Regina added "What a fine princess you would've made"

Red was going to join them at the house by dinnertime. Emma took advantage of this and she order some food at Granny's, so Red could bring it to her new house. She thought that she had break a world record or something, she couldn't believed that she finished with the house in less than two days, she couldn't have done that before. But she never had magic before or friends that would help her either. She smiled looking at her house, she knew that Henry and Killian would add some other personal touches to the house, and she couldn't wait for that.

"Here I am" Red yelled from the entrance door, "I need a hand! I have more food and drinks at my car"

Two of the dwarfs immediately went to help her get the other things in the house.

"Wow" Red said as she walked into the house "this place is amazing! I can't believe we finished it in a two days" she winked at Emma

"We?" Said Belle helping her with the bags of food "I don't remember you helping much!"

"I did help! I was sending you all good wishes, you have to show me all the house!" She told Emma excitedly.

Emma showed Red the almost finished house, she thought of it of almost finished because she knew that Killian and Henry would add their own personal touches. They all started to eat together in the kitchen. The kitchen was really spacious it had a kitchen island and more than enough space to put a small but stylish six-chair dining table set. They all sat down and began to eat making small talk until the alcohol started to hit them.

"Why isn't Snow and David here" Dopey asked

"They were busy" Red answered him looking at Emma

"I feel like I haven't seen Snow for a long time" Grumpy added

"I only see her when she goes to the hospital bringing Neal to his appointments" Doc said, "I guess raising a baby takes a lot of their energy"

Emma just continued eating; she didn't liked where this conversation was going.

"Do you remember what you two bet about before Emma was born?" Happy told Grumpy "When we were helping decorate the nursery"

"Oh yeah" Grumpy yelled putting his bear down "I guess I won?"

"What are you talking about?" Red asked curious, "I was always there with her, I don't remember any beat"

"That day you weren't there" Grumpy told Red "I was telling Snow that I was sure that we wouldn't see her outside that nursery once she had the baby, that she wouldn't be the bandit Snow White anymore. That she was going to be so in love and protective with her new baby that she wasn't going to leave the nursery..."

"And of course Snow had to argue with Grumpy, she was particularly hormonal that day" Doc remembered with a smile "She told him that she would never forget his friends and that she was sure that she would take Emma around the gardens and castle"

"We made a bet" Grumpy continued "I told her that she wouldn't leave Emma's side for a second at least for the first years, she told me that I was wrong that she could take Emma and teach her how to be a good bandit, that we will all go in little adventures with the baby, that her baby wouldn't be your typical princess after all her father was a shepherd turned prince and her mother a princess turned bandit. She told me that she knew that her daughter would be a strong girl"

Red looked at Emma and immediately noticed that she was uncomfortable "And that she is. She kicks ass!" Red declared with enthusiasm trying to cheer Emma up.

"I wish Snow and David were here" Sleepy said sleepily "It would've been like old times"

Emma looked down at the table. She wished her parents were there too, but they weren't, this was just another milestone that they were missing. She had to contain her tears. Listening to stories about how her parents planed to raise her still stung. She was supposed to grow in a castle with parents that loved her but what she got were foster homes where all she received was knockings and insults. She would've grown with all these amazing people around her.

"I guess we are going to have adventures with Emma now" Grumpy told the other dwarves "What do you say sister? Are up to the challenge? I do miss kicking some ass"

Emma looked up and saw at the seven people looking at her. She knew that if she had grown up at the enchanted forest those same seven people would've been like uncles. She gave them a little smile.

"Do you really miss battling evil queens?" Emma asked. "No offense Regina"

"For some weird reason I do" Grumpy confessed

"Go all evil queen on him Regina" Red told Regina playfully "I do miss the adventures but I don't miss having to look over my shoulder all the time"

They continued talking until they finished their food. Grumpy told the story of how Snow saved his life and the adventures that they all had together. The other dwarfs left to their houses only Tiny and Grumpy stayed. Emma was telling them how she meet Tiny and Tiny started telling them about his brothers, he got a little sad thinking about them.

"Come on Tiny! Cheer up!" Red said taking a bottle of tequila out of a bag "I know exactly what we need"

"That's the Red I know!" Grumpy exclaimed taking the bottle "Alcohol might not resolve your problems but it sure makes you forget them"

Emma laughed; she really needed to forget everything for a little while. She knew that Killian and Henry would be back tomorrow, but they were going to be back in the evening so she had time to get sober in case she got drunk.

Red took some shot glasses from the bag "I thought of everything" She said as she gave everybody a glass.

"I don't like tequila" Belle said

"You will in no time," Tiny told her

"What about you your majesty?" Grumpy said sarcastically to Regina "Do you think you can handle this"

"You will be surprised," Regina said taking a glass too.

It was dark now and Grumpy, Tiny and Red were already drunk. Belle and Regina were a little tipsy and Emma knew that she was between tipsy and drunk.

"So is Killian moving with you Emma?" Tiny asked giving Emma another tequila shot

"Yeah, well I haven't really ask him but yes" Emma said taking the shot

"I am going to have to talk to him then" Tiny said in a serious tone

"You mean _we_ " Grumpy added, "We have to let the pirate know that if he hurts you, he will have to deal with eight really angry men"

Emma laughed and felt touch, she couldn't believe that she had all these people that cared about her now, but the people that she really wanted and needed to be there the most weren't there. They continued drinking and talking until Grumpy told them his story with the fairy that he felt in love with. A really drunk Red told him that he could still get her. At the end Red convinced them to go to the convent and talk to this fairy. Belle told them that she didn't wanted to go, that she was already exhausted. Regina agreed to take Belle home; after all she didn't wanted to go either. Just as Emma and the others were walking towards the convent when they heard the police siren behind them.

"Shit" Red babbled

Emma immediately turned around and saw a really angry David walking towards them. David had received a call telling him that there were some drunks disturbing some people, what he didn't know was that he was targeting the wrong people, the other drunks left once the people told them that they had called the police.

"I can not believe that you three are disturbing people" David said angrily "Get in the car, now"

"We didn't do anything!" Red protested

"Get in the car now!" David said grabbing Red by the arms "The three of you get in the car now! Don't make me force you in"

Apparently Grumpy knew the drill, he just walked to the car and got in the backset. David helped a really drunk Red inside the car. Emma followed them and got in the car next to Red.

David got in the driver set and slammed the door shut "We didn't do anything" Red babbled again "We were helping people find true love you should know..."

"I don't want to hear it!" David told Red. He started the car and drove to the station. Once he was there he opened the cell and pushed Grumpy in one and Red in the other.

"Dad, we really didn't do anything," Emma told David as he pushed her into the cell.

"Don't call me that," David whispered loud enough so Emma could be the only one to hear him

"Dad?" Emma whispered suddenly scared of her father, he didn't seem like himself, there was something different in his tone.

"You will stay here until tomorrow, I don't want you to disturb anybody else" David locked the cells and walked out the station leaving a teary Emma behind. When Emma turned around she saw that Red was asleep as well as Grumpy. Emma helped Red into the bed and she sat at the floor. She didn't felt drunk anymore, she felt empty. She closed her eyes and surrender herself to sleep.

"Here you are!" Emma heard Regina's voice "What the hell are you guys doing here!?"

"Uggg" Grumpy hissed "Would you mind lowering your voice!?"

"What happened last night?" Red asked disoriented

"I would like to know that too" Regina demanded as she unlocked the cells with her magic "Emma, Henry is coming back today, what the hell were you thinking?"

"Just stop Regina please," Emma asked Regina as she looked up to look at her "for some reason I don't feel the hangover..."

"Lucky" Grumpy whispered

"I just need to take a shower and I will be like new, what time is it" Emma continued

"Around ten, I texted Robin and I asked him to bring Henry to the lake house instead of my house, like we planed yesterday. He said they would be there around twelve, so get your ass up and get at least changed"

Emma asked Regina to take Red home while she took Grumpy to his house. She drove to her parent's loft thinking that she should've taken more clothes to her room at Granny's the other night. She got out of the car and walked up the stairs. She stood in front of the door, for some reason she felt like something was wrong; she blamed the tequila for that. She opened the door and walked inside the loft, she closed the door behind her and when she turned around she saw her parents sitting at the dinner table looking at her as if they have been waiting for her.

 **I hope you guys like it! Thank you for reading it, and please leave comments, I love reading them! I can see that people from other countries are reading this fanfic too, so, Gracias por leer mi trabajo!** **Obrigado! (I only know Spanish and a little bit of Portuguese lol)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you for the reviews everyone and please keep them coming! Your reviews give the inspiration to write more, so if you want more leave a comment! lol. Ok so this chapter is all about angst and...ok just read it!**

"Oh look who is here, the drunk savior decided to honor us with her presence" Snow hissed as she got up for the table and walked towards Emma.

Emma stood in the doorway, she couldn't believe the tone in which her mother was speaking to her.

"Oh, yes. I told my wife why I had to leave her here alone last night" David said resentfully "What are you doing her anyways, I left you in jail last night."

Emma felt that her heart was being punched with every word her parents were saying.

"You didn't have to go and..." Emma couldn't finish

"Oh yes I had, because as opposed to you I _do_ have a responsibility and you and your stupid friends were disturbing my town"

"I'm sorry" Emma whispered suddenly afraid of what they might do to her not physically but emotionally.

"I finally realized that you are not princes material as you always said. I guess at least you were right for once in your life" David continued with a cruel tone

"What is happening?" Emma asked as she took a step back feeling as if she was being slowly wounded.

"What's happening is that we are tired of you Emma, we've had enough of you and guess what we know that you bought the house by the lake. We will finally have a real nursery for our real baby once you move out" Snow continued their torment to Emma

"Please don't do this" Emma whispered like a little child.

"Do what?" Snow said, "Tell you the truth? That we are tired of having to deal with a messed up daughter"

"Mom please" Emma begged getting closer to Snow felling as if her world was ending right there.

"Oh, you finally acknowledge me as your mother" Snow said as she took a steep back "well guess what sweat heart I don't want to be your mother, my only true love is David and Neal"

Emma finally let her tears fall, her mother's words had left a hole in her heart.

"Oh, you didn't know that princess?" David asked cruelly "Emma please how could we love someone that we don't even know and who we didn't raise...not to mention that you are nothing more than a criminal"

"What I said in the echo cave was true, I don't want you Emma, I wanted my baby and look what I got" Snow said pointing to Emma "I got this walled up daughter who doesn't even let me be her mother...well guest what sweat heart, I don't want you...we don't want you. We finally have a son who we will raise who will be a real prince..."

Emma closed her eyes trying to retain her tears "please don't say it, please don't break me, I'm not strong enough for this" Emma thought

"A son that will give us the happiness that you never could, a son that we will love like we never loved you...because Emma in reality I never loved you, I pitted you. I don't love you Emma"

"We don't love you Emma" Charming repeated

Emma felt as if her heart was slowly breaking, she wanted this to be a dream, but it was real. The pain that she was feeling was so strong that she wished she _was_ in a nightmare, it would've hurt less. Emma looked up at her parents again with a pleading look.

"You are nothing but a little orphan that we used to break a curse so we could be together again, so we could start our real family" Snow said looking at Emma as if she was nothing.

"How could I love someone like you when I have a brand new baby?! A baby that has no scars or a dark past. Yes Emma, we replaced you with Neal, You have broken two courses, we don't need you anymore so by all means go and live in New York, we don't care!" David told Emma.

Snow walked closer to Emma and looked right into her eyes. Emma saw nothing in them. "I don't love you little orphan, I never had and I never will," she said in a sweet voice filled with venom.

Emma felt a pain so strong a pain that she had never felt before, a pain deep inside her as if something had broke inside her, and something did broke...her heart. Emma's lips started to shake and big tears started to roll down her checks. She couldn't believe what her parents had told her. All the fears and insecurities that she had were becoming true, as if her parents knew what to say to break her heart.

David and Snow felt as if a force had hit them, they closed and opened their eyes, they immediately remembered every single thing they had said to Emma it was as if a movie was rolling in front of them, but they couldn't move, the grief and guilt of what they had said to their daughter was so strong that their bodies couldn't respond.

With the little strength that Emma had she looked up at her mother and yelled with all her heart "I know I am messed up but how cruel are you?" she said pointing at Snow "you made me think that my past didn't matter. You made me feel special. You made me believe" Emma continued as her body started to tremble from the controlled sobs, her face was wet from all the tears "You made me feel like I mattered! so why... why did you do what all the others did? Why did you break your promise? Why did you tell me that you would never leave?" Emma collapsed to the floor, her knees finally gave up, her heart couldn't take it any longer, and she looked up at her parents and in a broken voice said, "Why did you make me love you! Emma cried out as a pained sob finally escape from her lips. A white cloud surrounded her and she was gone.

Snow looked at her daughter, she heard the accusatory words came out and she felt like she could die. It hurt so much to know that she had hurt her daughter, her hope. Then Emma collapsed to the floor and looked up at her. Her daughter wasn't shouting anymore, she was silently broken.

David couldn't believe that he had let her daughter down again, he saw how broken she looked, he had never seen someone with so much pain before, and knowing that he had caused that pain was something that he knew he couldn't live with. He saw the heartbreak in his daughter's eyes but he didn't know what to say. He couldn't think of anything to say that would make his princess's pain go away so he kept on saying in his head "I'm sorry, I' sorry, I'm sorry".

Snow was about to go to her daughter to hold her close and tell that they had been cursed or put under a spell, but when she finally could move her daughter was gone. She could still hear her daughter's pained sob in her ears. Snow let out a whimper so pained that made Emma's look like nothing. She felt as if her own heart had been ripped out of her. She collapsed to the floor holding her stomach her pain was so deep that she felt as if someone was crushing her heart, if she was feeling this way she couldn't imagine what her daughter was going trough. She was screaming inside that she was sorry. David saw his wife collapse to the floor and he immediately was next to her, holding her close. His world was silent. His eyes became blurry from the tears, he couldn't breath he wanted to scream but no sound came out of him.

When Emma opened her eyes, she was at her room at her new house. She brought her knees up to her chin trying to suck all her tears and sobs in and don't make any noise, but it hurt too much to hold it in. She let out another pained yelp and a cry, her heart completely shattered.

 **Sorry? (I am a really terrible person) *I say in a Cruella voice* I know that was intense but it needed to be done. This will get solved...I hope.**


	9. Chapter 9

**First of all thank you for all your comments! And kept them coming!**

Regina was waiting outside Emma's backyard; she looked at her clock, twelve o'clock. Emma wasn't there. Regina signed and shook her head She looked up and saw Robin, Roland, Hook and Henry walking towards her. Roland and Henry were engaged in what seemed like a sword fight against Hook, but instead of swords they had tree sticks. Regina smiled; she loved seeing her boys so happy.

"M'Lady" Robin greeted Regina "Did you miss me?"

"Just a little" Regina said she leaned to Robin to give him a kiss.

"Hey mom!" Henry said as he came closer to Regina "Where is my other mom?"

"Ummm" Regina said looking around her to see if Emma was near "She was supposed to be here...I don't know"

"Should I text her to make sure that she is ok?...or maybe she is just lat..." Henry couldn't finish his sentence. A pained yelp was heard from inside the house. Hook immediately knew that it was Emma. He ran towards the back door that was open. He got into the house and heard another cry. He ran towards the sound, he had never heard so much pain in his life and he was afraid to find whom this pained cry belong too, even tough he already knew. He finally made it to the master bedroom and saw Emma sitting with her knees up to her chin and her head buried in her folded arms, she was shaking from all the crying. He immediately kneeled besides her bringing her to his chest, holding her close to him. He could actually feel that his own heart could break from only hearing her be in so much pain.

Henry jumped a little when he heard that pained yelp; he looked at Regina in alarm. He saw Killian ran into the house and he follow behind him.

"Keep Roland outside" Regina told Robin before following Henry inside.

Henry saw Killian walk into a room and he immediately followed. When he got to the door he stopped dead in his tracks. He saw his mother wrapped in Kalian's arms, she was sobbing and holding tight to Killian as if her life depended on it. He believed that seeing her mother cry like that was the worst sight in the world. He felt as if his heart was being squished by hearing her mother so destroyed.

Regina stopped next to Henry and saw a really devastated Emma in Killian's arms. She had never seen Emma so broken before. She admired Emma because no matter what happened she always stayed strong, but the woman in front of her looked defeated and in so much pain. A pain that Regina knew so well; Emma was heartbroken. She suddenly felt a kind of anger that she hadn't felt in so long, the kind of anger that you get when you want to destroy someone.

Regina walked to Emma and knelled in front of her "Emma? did someone hurt you" Regina asked in a whisper. She knew that she was going to destroy whoever made Emma cry like that.

Henry finally found the strength to walk towards her mother. He kneeled next to Regina and touched Emma's arm "What did they do?" Henry asked Emma in a whisper full with anger "It was _them_...right?" Henry immediately knew who were the one's who had hurt his mother.

Regina looked at Henry surprised. She had never heard him use that angry tone before. Emma nodded in Killian's chest. Henry's hands turned into fist and his face turned red. Regina looked at him and tried to take his arm but he got up and began walking towards the door.

Regina immediately got up and grabbed Henry by the arm as he was getting out of the house again "Henry! What are you doing were are you going?!"

"They hurt her mom!" Henry screamed with tears already rolling down his checks "I was supposed to protect her, but they hurt her again!"

Regina grabbed henry by the arms and looked at him in the eyes; she saw so much hurt and anger in them that it gave her chills. "Henry, calm down. Who are _them_?"

"Snow and David!" Henry said as he struggled to get out of Regina's firm gasp on him. "She is not alone anymore mom! They are going to pay for what they did to her!" Henry told Regina as he finally got free from her grasp. He ran towards the town and Regina ran behind him afraid that he might do something that he would regret, she knew how it felt when angry and grief consumed you, and most important she knew what that anger can make you do.

* * *

David held on to Snow, she needed him as much as he needed her right now. He wanted to get out and find Emma to explain her that it wasn't them who had said those hurtful things to her, he wanted to hold her princess and tell her how much he loves her. He feared that they had lost their daughter again but this time it would be forever.

"Why David!?" Snow whimpered, "Why do we always have to lose her? Why do I always have to lose my baby?!"

David held on to his wife even tighter, his heart hurt so much knowing that both his girls were in pain and he couldn't really do anything about it "We will solve this Snow, we will get our daughter back"

Snow shook her head. She knew that Emma would not forget them that easily, she couldn't even forgive herself right now. She remembered what she told her daughter _"_ _I don't love you little orphan, I never had and I never will"_ She let out another agonizing cry as her body started to tremble with her loud sobs. She tough she knew pain when her mother died, when her father died, or when she had to give her baby away, but nothing compared to the pain she was feeling right now. Knowing that she had broken her own daughter's heart made her feel an agonizing pain. She wanted to hold her daughter, but she knew that her daughter might not want to see her ever again.

* * *

Emma still couldn't believe what her parents had told her. They didn't love her, they never did. So then why would they made her love them? Why did they break her walls down? Could they be so cruel that they made her love them to let her down again? She had felt this way before she had experience this deep agonizing pain before and she promised herself to never let anybody close enough to hurt her again. But she did let someone in, her parents. She learned to love them, to trust them, but they let her down even worst that all those other foster parents. She clung to Killian wrapping her arms around his waist and putting her head in his chest.

"Love, what happened?" Killian asked Emma in a low voice.

Emma finally looked up at Killian "What always happens, they got tired of me" Emma said trough tears "Why Killian? What is wrong with me? Everyone leaves me..."

"I won't" Killian stated as he gave her a kiss in the temple

"Please don't say that, I am so tired of people telling me that they will never leave and everyone eventually leaves me...it's a never ending cycle" Emma wept.

Killian took Emma's chin and made her look into his eyes "I will never leave you, at least not willingly" He said looking deep into her eyes, he wanted her to understand how much he love her "Don't you know Love? I will never leave you because if I lose you I will lose myself too"

"Killian..."

"I love you Emma Swan..." Killian told her sincerely

* * *

Red was cleaning the tables that were in the patio when she heard Regina screamed Henry's name. Red immediately looked up and saw Henry running towards the charming loft.

"Henry!" Regina screamed again, she looked to her right and saw Red running towards Henry "Red get him!" Regina knew that Red could run faster than her thanks to her half wolf thing.

Red ran towards Henry but he was already at the entrance of the building.

"What happened?!" Red asked Regina

"Just get him before he does something he will regret!"

* * *

David and Snow stayed at the floor holding each other for a long time, neither of them had the strength to move.

"Snow, we have to find out who did this" David told Snow "We have to find Emma and explain her what happened"

Snow didn't respond she continued sobbing in his arms. David decided to take her to the sofa. He carried her to the sofa and kneeled in front of her.

"Snow please look at me" David pleaded; he had never seen her wife like this. He knew that he needed to be strong for the both of them. Snow buried her face in her hands and continued crying.

All of a sudden they heard someone knocking and kicking the door loudly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you everyone for reading my story. It is amazing the amount of people who read it! So thank you so much. Please leave comments!**

Snow finally looked up when she heard the loud knocking on the door. She hoped that it was Emma. David walked to the door and opened it to see a really angry Henry being held by the waist by Red.

"Let me go!" Henry struggled in Red's firm grasp on him. Henry looked up and saw David "You!" Henry hissed "why! Why did you hurt her! I hate you! Red let me go!"

David took a steep back felt as if he had been pounced in the stomach, his grandson words had hurt his already bruised heart.

Snow saw her husband's face and she immediately came back from her world of sorrow, she knew that they needed to be strong for each other and most importantly they needed to find their daughter.

"Henry please, let us explain it wasn't us we were..." Snow said as she approached Henry

"How could you! She trusted you! She loved you, but you are worst than the others..." Henry screamed at Snow.

"Henry please listen to us" Snow pleaded, she hated to see her own grandson in so much pain and anger.

"Why would I listen to you? You are nothing to me! You are..." Henry started

"Henry!" Regina said standing between Snow and Henry "you need to calm down, don't say anything you will regret"

"Henry breath" Red told Henry as she kept her hold on to him, he wasn't pulling anymore, but she had her arms around his waist just in case.

"I hate you both" Henry said in a whisper looking at David and Snow. Snow covered her mouth with her hand, she didn't wanted to break down again, but hearing the anger in her grandson's voice made her heart hurt even more.

"I need to get back to my mother right now, they are not worth it" Henry told Regina in an monotonous tone "Mom please take me to my mom"

"Where is Emma? I need to talk to her. I need to tell her..." Snow begged Regina

"No you won't get near her" Henry said looking back at Snow "you won't hurt her again, I won't let you hurt her"

"Mom please! Take me to my mother!" Henry begged Regina again. He realized that he had made a mistake; he should've stayed with her mother instead of coming and scream at the people who hurt her.

Regina looked at Henry and nodded. She moved her hands and Henry was gone in a purple cloud of smoke. Regina immediately turned to Snow and David, her face full of anger "I don't know what you did to her, but if you hurt her again..."

"Hey Regina!" Red said, "Would someone tell me what is happening right now?"

Red was so confused; she had never heard Henry so upset and angry before. And Regina defending Emma was another big surprise for her

"I don't know what these two idiots did to her, but Emma...she is...we need to get to her"

"Where is Emma?" Red asked alarmed "is she ok!?"

"No, she is not" Regina said as she turned to look at Red in the eyes "I have never seen her like that, we need to get to her, we need to help her"

"Where is she!?" Snow asked getting exasperated not knowing where her daughter was killing her "we need to talk to her..."

Regina pretended that she didn't heard Snow, she needed to get out of that place before she did something stupid. She puffed herself and Red to Emma's house.

* * *

"I love you Emma Swan" Killian told her sincerely.

Emma looked at Killian; she knew that he was telling her the truth. She felt as if her hear was starting to beat again.

Killian stroke Emma's check "I love you Emma, I don't know what your parents did, but I promise you that I will never leave you"

Emma felt like she was in an emotional roller-coaster, can someone get so many feelings on one day? She still felt her heart completely chattered but Killian telling her that he loves her made all those chattered pieces beat.

"I love you too Killian" Emma said bringing Killian closer to her. Emma kissed Killian on the lips, giving him a sweet but passionate kiss. She felt as if her heart was beginning to heal.

"I can't believe they said all those things to me," Emma said as she looked at Killian again "and I hate myself for letting them hurt me like that, I promised myself that I would never let anybody else hurt me like, but they did. Lesson learned..."

Killian stoke Emma's check again and cleaned a tear that was rolling down her check with his thumb "You should never hate yourself for letting someone in your heart love, don't close your heart again, "

"He is right mom," Henry whispered as he walked towards Emma.

"Henry?" Emma asked sitting up "Where were you?"

Henry sat next to his mother and hugged her "I love you mom, I don't know what they did, but I won't let anybody else hurt you again"

Emma smiled and hugged Henry back "I love you too kid" She said as she kissed her head. Then realization of where Henry had gone came to her, she was sure that he went to his grandparent's house. She knew she should ask her son what happened, but right now she didn't want to think about her parents, it hurt too much to know that she had lost them again.

"You know what?" Emma said looking down at Henry "I just remembered something that one of my foster families used to tell me to make me feel better" She said trying to cheer herself up. She also wanted to cheer her soon up, she knew that his heroes had fallen from the pedestal that he had them in.

"Just find a way,

Ah, to look up at the sky

To search from the stars

To always love yourself without fear

To keep each other company without seeing each other

Love me every day

With your kind heart

And with love in your life

Just whishing one thing...to own a soul of Hierro" Emma said in almost a singing voice.

She remembered that the Hierro family used to sing to her to make her feel better. She smiled remembering how they used to sing to her every day. She had been placed with them when she was eight years old, just after she left the worst foster home that she had even been too.

"That is beautiful love," Killian said.

"Hierro?" Henry asked, "That means iron in Spanish right? Why would they want to have a soul of iron?"

Emma let out a little laugh "Hierro was the last name of my foster parents, and to have a soul of Hierro means to have a soul that will love without fear. I guessed they used to tell me this so I could feel better and feel like a part of the family"

* * *

Regina Red appeared at Emma's backyard.

"Now can you explain me what happened?" Red asked Regina.

Regina told Red the whole story of how they heard Emma cry and how they had found her in her bedroom looking completely defeated.

Red shock her head "Something is really wrong, I know Snow and David and they will never hurt her daughter that much to make her cry like that"

"People change Red" Regina said while she was texting Robin that she was going to stay at Emma's for a little bit longer "Look at how they have ignored her for the last month. You said it yourself, they have changed" she said looking up at Red.

"I just...I had never seen Snow or David so...miserable. I know there is so much more to this that we know"

"I do not care about them right now, I want to help Emma and my son" Regina said as she walked to the house "I know Henry is hurting too, he just lost his heroes"

* * *

Some place in New York

"Do you have any good news?" Angelica asked to the detective sitting across from her "Did you find a trace, something that could help us find her?"

"I did" the man answered "I found a record in the police department in which she reported a man that was harassing her telling her that he knew her from a place called Story Brooke in Maine"

"That doesn't really tell us anything Angelica" Angelica's husband said putting a hand in Angelica's shoulder.

"At least is something," Angelica said looking up at her husband "I know we have looked everywhere but I don't know, I have this feeling that Emma might be there. Or that somebody will know where she is. I _need_ to find her"

Leonardo looked down at his wife and gave her a reassuring smile "I want to find Emma too, but we don't even know where this place is"

"We will find it" Angelica instantly replied.

"Actually, one of the possession that this man had was a map of where StoryBroke is. I've actually done some research about this town but I haven't found anything about it"

Leonardo took the map that the detective gave her "Thank you, we will go look for this place but just in case we don't found Emma there you should continue to look for more clues as where to find her"

Once the detective was gone Angelica said "I know this seems crazy but I have a feeling that we will find Emma soon. I will talk to my sister so she can stay with the kids while we go to Maine next week" Angelica said excitedly.

 **That little piece that Emma sang was from a song called "Alma de Hierro" by Fonseca. That song is really special to me and a family that I give a ride to and from the hospital (I volunteer at a hospital) and I wanted to integrated to this story because I love it so much.**


	11. Chapter 11

**First of all thank you for reading my story. It is amazing the amount of people who read it and thank you so much for liking my idea and story! As you guys know this is my first FanFiction so any suggestions are more than welcome!**

"Where are they?" Red asked Regina as they walked inside the house.

"They were at Emma's room" Regina whispered to Red, signaling her to keep her voice down "I don't want Emma to feel uncomfortable. We should go to the kitchen and wait for them there"

"But if Emma is hurting I want to help!" Red exclaimed trying to keep her voice down.

"I don't think she will appreciate a bunch of people sitting in the floor with her as if we were having a sleepover...so we will go to the kitchen and wait there"

Red thought about it and decided that that was the best option, she agreed that Emma needed her space, so she followed Regina to the kitchen.

The little family continued sitting at the floor, Killian had her arm wrapped around Emma's shoulder and Emma was resting half her body against Killian's. Henry had her arms wrapped around Emma's waist and his head resting at Emma's shoulders.

Emma smiled looking at two of the four men most important in her life. Her other most important men were David and her little brother Neal. She closed her eyes. She had lost her father, her rock. They had grown so close in the last year. They literally saw each other every day at the station and then at the loft. She didn't know how she was going to live in Storybook watching her parents every day. She wanted to hate them for what they did to her, but she couldn't. How can you hate someone that you still love?

"Mom?" Henry asked Emma in a low voice, "why are we in this house?"

"Oh my god!" Emma had completely forgot about Henry's surprise.

"Love please don't tell me that we are invading someone's property" Killian said with a chuckle.

"Henry, I am so sorry, this was supposed to be a surprise for you...I bought this house and everything two days ago, I wanted to give you a nice surprise and..." Emma babbled,

"Mom it's ok" Henry said taking her mother's arm giving her a reassuring smile.

"Surprise?" Emma whispered giving henry an apologetically smile.

Henry let out a laugh and got up in his feet "come on Mom show us our new house" he said as he gave his hand to help Emma get up.

"I want to se your house too Love" Killian said as he got up.

"Um actually" Emma turned around to see Killian, she bit her lower lip. How was she going to do this? Should she just tell him straight up? "I was going to ask you...I was thinking that, if you want to of course"

"Mom you are bubbling" Henry chuckled

Emma turned and gave Henry a mom look. She turned to see Killian again and saw his confused expression. If this were different circumstance she would've thought that he looked hilarious. "Killian" she let out a breath "Would you like to move in with us?"

Killian broke into one of his dashing smiles, he raised his eyebrow and said, "Of course Love, I would love to live with you"

Emma smiled and wrapped her arms in Killian's neck, bringing him closer to her. They shared a quick kiss.

"Get a room!" They herd Henry said.

Emma showed Killian and Henry the house, the master bedroom was downstairs and Henry's room was upstairs along with two other bedrooms.

Once she got to the kitchen she stopped dead in her tracks, Regina and Red were sitting at the island looking at her. An awkward silence filled the room.

"Lad, why don't we go check the outside of the house" Killian said sensing the awkwardness in the room. Henry immediately agreed and they both walked out of the kitchen.

Red walked up to Emma and brought her into her arms. Emma flinched but then relaxed in Red's arms. "What happened?" She whispered in Emma's ear. Red took Emma by the shoulders and looked at her.

"What always happens" Emma shrugged with tears in her eyes again. "They told me that they were tired if having a messed up daughter and that they never loved me"

"Oh Emma" Red said embracing Emma again.

"I hate feeling like this" Emma said as she cleaned some tears that rolled down her checks "I've been trough this before and I wish I could hate them or forget them, but I can't"

Snow turned around to see a really destroyed David "He was upset David, kids say things that they don't mean when they are upset" Snow said trying to help her husband.

"I have never seen him like that before"

"I know, believe me I know how much that words hurt, but we need to get to Emma. I can't stay here and do nothing while I know that my daughter is suffering because of me"

"We will find her Snow, we will find her and we will talk to her..where could she possibly be?" David asked Snow

"The lake house, I am pretty sure she is there, I will get Neal so we can go get our daughter back"

"Sometimes talking about it makes you feel less alone" Red told Emma

"I don't want to think or talk about it"

"Emma, you are building those walls around again. I just want to help you"

"I am not building anymore walls Red, I am so fucking tired of keeping people out, I've done that all my life but right now I don't want to talk about Mary Margaret and David." Emma took a deep breath in and continued "what I can tell you is that I've never felt a pain so deep before, but I guess all the fucked up things that happened to me in my childhood were like a warm up for this. To be honest I don't even know how I am standing up right now. I don't want to feel sorry for myself; I am not a kid anymore. And I won't give anybody else the right to destroy me again, I have a son and I can't afford to stay in a room crying all day"

Regina looked at the woman in front of her, she knew that Emma was still hurting inside but she didn't want to look weak to other people, she wanted to look strong for her soon. Emma had this look in her eyes, a look that Regina knew really well, she used to see that same look everyday she looked at the mirror.

"Ok I understand" Red nodded "but please if you need anything know that I am here to help you, I care about you Emma"

Emma gave Red a little smile "Thanks Red, I guess one of the reason I didn't break completely is because now I am not alone anymore"

"And you will never be alone again" Red told Emma in a serious tone. "But Emma, I just feel the need to tell you that I know your parents and...something is really wrong here...they would've never hurt you like that..."

"But they did" Emma interrupted "they did and I won't forgive them"

"Emma you should talk to them, I am sure they have a.."

"I wont talk to them" Emma interrupted again "I know that I am going to see them, for god shakes I work with David! Even if I wanted to avoid them, I cant, unless I move out of town" Regina immediately looked up at Emma upon hearing those words. "But I won't" Emma said looking at Regina "It wouldn't be fair for Henry...it wouldn't be fair for me. As I said before I won't let anybody ruin what I have here"

"How are you going to handle them?" Regina asked,

"I won't. They said that they didn't want me, so they won't have me. It's that simple, I know it will kill me inside to see them and remember what they said to me, but I have to stay strong for Henry"

"You don't have to be strong all the time Emma" Red said

"Being strong was the only option I've had all my life"

* * *

Henry and Killian were sitting at the front porch when they saw Mary Margaret's car pulled over in the driveway. Killian and Henry immediately got up.

"What are you doing here?" Killian asked David

"I am here to see my daughter" David answered

"No you won't" Henry and Killian said in unison. Killian stood in front of David.

David closed his eyes, he understood why the pirate was doing this, he wanted to protect Emma, but David needed to talk to his daughter and he wasn't going to let anybody stop him from seeing his girl.

"Killian I know why you are doing this, but move out of the way or..."

"You touch him and I forget that you are my grandfather" Henry told David in a warning tone "I already told you that you won't hurt my mother again, and this time I will do wherever it takes to not break my promise"

"Henry!" Snow scolded Henry "that is not way to talk to David what happened was a..."

"Listen Mary Margaret, I don't think my mother wants to see or talk to neither of you right now. I think you have done enough damage for a day, so no you can't see my mother. Please get out of our house" Henry said pointing to the road. He remembered what his mother always used to tell him when he was a kid. _Kill the haters with kindest, unless they touch you, in that case kick their ass_. He decided that he was going to do the first part.

"That's not my name" Snow said trying to control her tears.

"And this is not your house. So please get out. If you ever felt anything for my mother...please just get out of our house" Henry said looking at Snow. It hurt to talk to her grandparents like that but he didn't want anybody else to hurt his mother.

"I don't know what you did to her" Killian said looking at Snow and David "but I have never seen someone so miserable, and I've lived for a long time. I know her, and I know that she doesn't want to talk to you right now"

David took a steep back and looked at his wife. They had one of their silent conversations. "We won't leave unless we talk to our daughter" Snow said firmly.

"Oh yes you will leave" came a voice behind them.

Regina walked up next to Henry "you will leave because Emma doesn't want to talk to you"

"And who are you to tell us what to do" David said angrily. She was the one who had made Emma grow up without them, why would they listen to her.

"I am Emma's friend" Everybody was surprised to hear Regina say that, even Regina was a little taken aback "your daughter told me that she didn't want to talk to you"

"I won't leave..." Snow began to say as her phone ringed announcing that she had got a text. She looked down to read it and a tear rolled down her check she felt her heart breaking.

 _Emma:  
Go live your life with both your true loves and leave this little orphan alone.  
_  
Snow gave David the phone so he could read the message. He also felt as if someone was squishing his heart. To think that his princess, his Emma, tough of herself as an orphan broke David's heart. He looked at Snow and they both walked to the car. As much as they wanted to tell her daughter the truth, they couldn't make her talk or listen to them. David and Snow got in the car and drove away.

Emma waited at the kitchen, she had heard their parent's cars pull in the driveway and she told Regina if she could tell them that she didn't want to talk to them. She would've asked Red but she knew that Red was their friend and really couldn't do it.

"Are you sure this is how you want to handle this?" Red asked Emma

"Believe me this is the best way" Emma looked up at Red and said "Red I know they are your friends and you have more history with them than with me. I totally understand your need to try and defend them or help them. But I wasn't the one who pushed them away, they pushed ME away"

"Ok, I get it" Red knew that right now wasn't the best time to make Emma talk. She had been trough a lot for a day.

Regina, Henry and Killian walked inside the house again. Nobody mentioned the Charming again for the rest of the day. Regina went back to Robin and Roland and Red went back to Granny's while the family stayed in their new house. Emma decided that she was going to take a three day vacation, she felt that she needed time to heal.

* * *

 **At night**

Emma settled in the bed next to Killian who was already under the covers. They have slept together before but for some reason this time felt different. She used to hate the night; just right before you go sleep when all your demons appear to come to you wanting to keep you awake. She looked up at the ceiling; she felt Killian's hands take hers.

Tears started to roll down her checks again and a sob escaped her lips. She hated this; she completely hated this whole situation.

Killian immediately brought her into his arms and hold her close to him. "It's ok to cry love, let it out, it's ok...I am here now. You wont be alone again"

Emma continued to silently cry in Killian's arms until she felt asleep.

* * *

Snow and David settle in their bed. Snow snuggled close to her husband and rested her head in his shoulder, wrapping her arms in his torso. The loft was completely silent.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to live with myself Snow" David whispered, he was silently crying, "How can a father let his daughter down so many times? How we treated our daughter for the last month was..." He couldn't finish; his sorrow was so strong that he couldn't even the words out.

Snow looked up to his husband and David saw that Snow had been crying too. "I know David, knowing what we did and said to our daughter is eating me alive" She said as she cleaned David's tears with her fingers. "But we have to stay strong, for Emma. We will find whoever did this, and when we do I will torture them so bad that they will plead me to kill them"

David looked down at her wife and saw the old fearless bandit that he felt in love with. He hugged her closer to him and they both fell asleep with tears in their eyes.

* * *

Emma walked into the station after three days of being in her house with her little family. She knew that she had a lot of paperwork to do, just as she was about to sit down she heard someone open the door. She closed her eyes knowing who this person was.

"So Neal is with Ashley. I will go look in the library to see if I can find anything" Emma heard her mother say.

David and Snow had tried to reach Emma for the last three days but she won't answer their texts or phone calls, so they decided to look for evidence to show to her daughter so she could believe them.

"Fuck!" Emma whispered as she sat at her chair. She had decided to just ignore David and Snow instead of having a confrontation with them. She turned on her computer and pretended to be working.

David opened the door to the sheriff office and his heart stopped. Emma had her back to them. Snow gasped when she saw her daughter, she wanted to run and hug her but she knew that her daughter wouldn't like that.

"Emma?" David breathed out.

Emma took a deep breath and turned around, she looked up and gave them a smile as if they were only acquaintances. "Deputy...Ms. Blanchard " she said looking at them.

Snow took a steep back she felt as if her daughter had slapped her. She had never called her Ms. Blanchard not even when they were only roommates.

"Deputy, I need you to do the first patrol. I have some paperwork that I need to finish" Emma told a stunned David.

"Emma what we said the other day it wasn't us...we were put under a..." David started

"Deputy!" Emma said raising her voice, she didn't want to hear them, afraid that they could hurt her again "I said that I want you to do the first patrol, or would you rather do the paperwork?"

"Emma please" Snow pleaded, her vision was getting buried from the tears that threaten to fall "we were put under a spell honey, we would never..."

Emma let out a humorless laugh "Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night?" Emma said standing up crossing her arms in her chest "oh wait let me guess your next sentence...we wanted to give you your best chance...Ha! Classic"

"Emma please listen to us princess..." David begged.

"Don't fucking call me princess!" Emma screamed.

David flinched. Emma looked at her parents and saw a destroyed Mary Margaret and an equally devastated David. She didn't want to hurt them but she couldn't help herself, she didn't wanted to hear their lame excuses. A spell? Really? There were no sorcerers in Story Brooke anymore; only Regina and Emma knew well that she wouldn't do something like that, not anymore. She didn't want to hurt them, for some fucked up reason she still loved and cared about them.

"Listen" she said taking a deep breath in "I really don't want to talk about what happened. I wish you both the best...I really do. I whish you can have the family you always wanted Ms. Blanchard." she said looking at Snow "I whish you and your family the best, but as you said...I am not a part of that...happiness...so please just don't refer to me as your family because I am not."

Snow let out a sob and David had tears running down his check. "Emma please believe us," David said taking a step towards Emma who took a steep back.

"I can't, I cant let you hurt me again" Emma whispered. She hated to see their parent like that but she didn't believe them. A little voice inside her head told her that they were acting, that they probably needed her to do something for them again.

Snow couldn't help it she walked towards her daughter and brought her into her arms. "I am sorry baby, I am so sorry" she whispered to her daughter's ear.

Emma flinched when she saw her mother practically run towards her, but when she felt her arms around her she relax for a second, she had wanted this for the last month, she had wanted to give her mother or her father a hug.

 _"_ _I don't want to be your mother, my only true love is David and Neal"_ Emma remember her mother saying this, she could actually hear her voice saying this over and over again. Emma pushed her mother off her, making Snow stumble backwards almost falling.

"Don't do that again" Emma told Snow in a low voice. She took the car keys and walked towards the door "Deputy you are on desk duty today" She said before closing the door behind her.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right exit?" Leonardo asked Angelica.

"According to this map it is" Angelica said looking around the forest at either side of the car. "I have to be honest this is kind of creepy"

"I wouldn't be surprise that once we get to the town we see a bunch of zombies walking around" Leonardo agreed.

"Shut up!" Angelica said slapping him in the arm "This looks like a ghost town, I guess this is the best place to be if you are running from something"

"Angelica, I don't want you to get your hopes up again. Emma might not be here"

"But this is a place that Emma would run to, don't you think? She always said that she wanted to go to a quiet place where nobody would know her, so she could leave a peaceful life, leaving all her past behind her" Angelica insisted getting a little exasperated at her husband "and this place looks like that kind of place"

"Don't go all Latina on me" Leonardo joked trying to ease her wife's worries "I want to find Emma as much as you do"

Angelica gave her husband a smile "Then shut up and drive" she said jokingly.

* * *

Emma thought about what happened at the station throughout the day. She hated herself for pushing Mary Margaret away almost making her fall, but what she hated the most was to see her mother's expression when Emma pushed her away. She had only see her mother like that once before, when the cursed David left her for Katherine. She felt as if she had kicked a puppy. She cursed herself, but she couldn't let them in again. She couldn't let them break her heart again; it was only starting to heal.

She checked her phone and saw that it was time to go get lunch. She was meeting Red, Belle and Regina. For some reason they had become closer in the last three days.

Belle and Regina were sitting at the Island talking to Granny.

"Hey Emma" Granny greeted her "I have your food ready. I just need to go get it." She went into the kitchen to get Emma her food.

"So how was this morning?" Belle asked.

"Not so good" Emma said as she sat next to Regina "Let's just say that Snow and David were there, and they tried to talk to me, I kind of screamed at them, and then Snow tried to hug me and I practically pushed her away making her almost fall"

"Oh my!" Belle exclaimed

"Exactly" Emma grumbled,

"How do you feel?" Regina asked Emma in a serious tone.

"I feel like shit" Emma breathed out "maybe me and David wont be able to work together after all"

"Things might work out" Belle said.

"Yeah right" Emma said sarcastically.

They continued eating and talking about the things that were going on in the town.

* * *

"Look! There is a bed and breakfast there. We can stay there and ask if anybody knows Emma" Angelica said as they drove near Granny's.

"Perfect" said as he parked in front of Granny's "we just have to be careful about what we say about Emma, we don't know if she has a different name or..."

"I know, I was actually thinking the same thing. This town isn't that big, maybe we can look for ourselves first and then ask somebody if they know her"

"We haven't seen her in 15 years, we don't even know how she looks like"

"Oh, we will know when we see her, believe me"

They walked into Granny's and walked to the island.

"Excuse me?" Angelica asked Granny "I want to get a room at the Inn"

Emma felt as if her blood had turned into ice. She would recognize that voice anywhere. Her heart started to beat fast; she could've sworn that everybody in the dinner could hear it.

Emma turned around slowly afraid that if she moved fast she would wake up and realize that this was a dream. She finally turned and looked at the woman whose voice she knew too well. She looked exactly the same as the last time she saw her. She had black hair, light brown eyes, and a few inches taller than Emma. The woman turned and saw Emma and gasped. Their eyes locked on one another.

 **Thank you everyone for the reviews! I totally love reading them! The more reviews I read the more inspiration I get to write more!** **This was supposed to be a short story, I had the outline with what I wanted to happened and it was only 12 chapters, but then it grew bigger thanks to the nice feedback that I got... so thank you so much again!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey this chapter is specially long because I didn't update for some days and because your reviews were awesome! ;) For the guest who asked, "When did David and Emma quit being co-sheriffs?" in this story they never were co-sheriffs, I wanted to save that moment for later chapters (gotta love DadyCharming).**

 _Emma was at the back of the social workers car. She had just been taken out of another abusive home where the father was a drunk and used to hit the children as if they were punching bags. Emma only stayed at that house for six long months. The father had gone to far with one of the boys sending him to the emergency room causing the social workers to move all the kids to new homes._

 _"This home is going to be better Emma," the social worker said._

 _Emma didn't respond she knew that this wasn't true, she had been in enough foster homes to know that most of them were abusive if not physically mentally._

 _The social worker pulled up at a driveway. Emma didn't move, she really didn't want to go trough all of that again. The false welcomes the false happy faces; she was just so damn tired of that._

 _"Come on Emma" the social worker said as she opened the door "time to meet your new family"_

 _Emma finally got out of the car and walked behind the social worker. She saw a woman with black hair and light brown eyes give her a warm smile, next to her was a man he was tall with broad shoulders, he had a warm smile too._

 _"Hi, Emma. My name is Angelica," the woman said kneeling in front of Emma. Emma looked up and saw the woman's eyes._

 _"Hi" Emma said looking at the woman attentively. She was good at knowing if someone was been fake and this woman wasn't._

 _"This is my husband Leonardo" Angelica said pointing at her husband._

 _"Hi Emma, and welcome" Leonardo said_

 _The social worker left and Angelica and Leonardo showed Emma her new room. It was a nice size bedroom with a bed, a wardrobe a bedside table in each side of the bed one with a night lamp._

 _"I know is not much..." Leo started_

 _"It's ok, thank you" Emma replied, she didn't want to make them angry._

 _"Emma I know how foster care is" Leonardo began "I was in it since I was five until I was eighteen...I know how some foster homes treat us foster children, but I want to let you know that we are different"_

 _Emma looked up at Leo when she heard that he had been in the foster system. She had never known an adult who had been in the system. She used to hear that all the foster kids grow up to be drug addicts or criminals. Leonardo didn't seem like any of those._

 _"We won't hurt you Emma" Angelica said to Emma "you are safe here"_

 _Emma didn't want to believe them; she couldn't let her guard down, not even for a minute. Yes they did look like nice people but sometimes the nice looking are the worst._

 _They showed Emma the house and took her to see what was going to be her new school. They went back to their house and they had dinner and at first it was awkward for Emma, until Angelica and Leonardo started to talk about their childhood and how they used to do little mischiefs._

 _"I think it wasn't really smart of us to tell you that" Leonardo smiled down at Emma, "Don't get any ideas" he winked at Emma._

 _"I will behave I promise" Emma said looking down at her plate, remembering how some foster homes used to hit her even if she didn't do anything wrong._

 _The first nights in foster homes were always the hardest; she usually couldn't sleep for the first days. She would let her guard down a little once she knew the foster parents better._

 _She closed her eyes but images of her last foster father hitting her and calling her names came back to hunt her. She let out a little whimper and she immediately put her hands in her mouth. She knew that foster parents hated when kids cried and she didn't really want to wake up Angelica or Leonardo._

 _"Emma?" She heard Angelica's voice._

 _"Oh crap I woke them up, they are going to hit me" Emma thought._

 _"Emma are you ok?" Angelica repeated walking towards Emma's bed._

 _"I am so sorry, I will be quiet...please don't hurt me" Emma whispered._

 _"Oh Emma, I won't hurt you" Angelica said in an understanding tone. She saw Emma's frightened eyes and she couldn't understand how could someone hurt an innocent child. Angelica sat at the bed and gave Emma a warm smile._

 _"You were having nightmares?" She asked Emma._

 _Emma nodded "more like memories"_

 _"When I was a kid my mother used to sing for me so I could fall asleep" Angelica smiled "it always helped to chase the nightmares away...we could try and see if it works with you too...would you like that"_

 _Emma looked at the woman with a surprised face, nobody had ever offer her that. She didn't know what to say. Could she trust this woman? She decided to give it a shoot; she nodded at Angelica._

 _Angelica smiled and started singing as she tucked Emma tight. She began to pass her hand trough Emma's blond curls._

 _She never slows down._  
 _She doesn't know why but she knows that when she's all alone feels like its all coming down_  
 _She won't turn around_  
 _The shadows are long and she fears if she cries that first tear, the tears will not stop raining down._

 _So stand in the rain_  
 _Stand your ground_  
 _Stand up when it's all crashing down_  
 _You stand through the pain_  
 _You won't drown_  
 _And one day, what is lost can be found_  
 _You stand in the rain_

 _She won't make a sound_  
 _Alone in this fight with herself and the fears whispering if she stands she'll fall down_  
 _She wants to be found_  
 _The only way out is through everything she's running from wants to give up and lie down._

 _So stand in the rain_  
 _Stand your ground_  
 _Stand up when it's all crashing down_  
 _You stand through the pain_  
 _You won't drown_  
 _And one day, what is lost can be found_  
 _You stand in the rain_

 _Emma began to slowly close her eyes as Angelica sang. Angelica started to cares Emma's checks "sleep Emma, you are safe here"_

* * *

"Emma?" The woman said her name as if it was the purest name on the world.

"Angelica?" Emma whispered before she got out of her set and ran towards the woman.

"Oh Emma, mi niña ( _my girl_ )" the woman said as she walked towards Emma to hug her "I am so sorry Emma, I swear we looked for you but we couldn't find you...I am so sorry Emma"

Emma wrapped the woman in a tight hug. She rested her chin in her shoulder. She looked up and saw Leonardo looking at her. She smiled and said "te comieron la lengua los ratones? _(Cat got your tongue?)"_ Emma said remembering that that was what he used to tell her when she was quiet.

Leonardo gave Emma a warm smile "you remember?"

"Of course I do" Emma replied as she walked towards him to give him a hug. Leonardo wrapped his arms around the not so little Emma again. "I am sorry Emma" Leonardo said to Emma hugging her tighter.

"How did you find me here?" Emma asked as she let go of Leo.

"We have been looking for you for the last years" Angelica explained, "we hired a private detective to look for you...we just wanted to make sure that you were ok"

Emma smiled to Angelica and gave her another hug. These people where by far the nicest foster parents that she had growing up, they took her in and made her feel as a part of their family.

"Um Emma?" Emma heard Red asked.

The entire dinner was watching the little reunion. They weren't use to see their sheriff so touchy-feely with anybody.

"Oh yeah" Emma said looking back and taking Angelica's hand, for some reason she wanted to keep her close, afraid that she would leave "Girls, these are Angelica and Leonardo...they were my foster parents when I was nine" she said turning to Angelica and Leo and giving them a smile. She couldn't believe that they were here with her after all those years.

"And these girls right here are my friends" she said smiling back at the still stunned girls in front of her "We have Belle, she is the librarian and she practically owns the town" she said pointing at Belle who gave Angelica and Leo a smile "and then we have Regina, she is the mayor" Regina gave them a little smile, "and then we have Red and Granny who own the dinner and the inn" Red and Granny gave them a small smile too.

"You girls run this town don't you?" Angelica said smiling at all the girls "what about you Emma, what do you do?"

Emma smiled and took her badge out and show it to Angelica "I am the sheriff" she said giving them a little shy smile.

"That's my girl!" Angelica said proudly, wrapping an arm around Emma's shoulder. Emma blushed and shrugged.

"You haven't change then" Leo also smiled proudly at Emma "you are still a strong girl, I am so proud of you Emma"

Emma blushed even more "oh stop it Leo! You are embarrassing her!" Angelica said playfully winking at her husband.

"So how did you guys got here?" Regina asked. Nobody was supposed to enter the town; she was a little suspicious about these people.

Leonardo looked at Emma as if asking her if he could talk. Emma gave him a node. "As we said before, we were looking for you for the last couple of years, the private investigator that we hired found a police report that you made about a guy that was harassing you. In one of the possessions of this man was a map that guide us here"

"How did you know that she was here though?" Regina asked.

"Well I didn't..." Leo started

"I did...for some reason I felt that this lead could guide us to Emma" Angelica said squishing Emma's shoulder "and it did"

"I am happy you are here" Emma said sincerely. "Why don't you guys check in the inn and we can go somewhere else so we can catch up?"

Leonardo and Angelica went to their car to get their stuff to the room.

"Can we trust them?" Regina immediately asked once the Hierro family was outside the dinner.

"I would trust them with my life" Emma said looking at Regina in the eyes

"Ok Emma, if you trust them, we trust them too," Belle said.

"And by the way" Emma said "the magic and all that stuff should stop while they are here, I don't want to scare them away. I will call everyone by their course name."

Leonardo and Angelica came down from the Inn and Emma took them to show them the town.

"I don't like this" Red said looking at Belle and Regina.

Belle tilted her head "why? Emma looks happy"

"I know she does and I am happy for her but...I am worried about how David and Snow are going to take this"

"Have you talked to them since the...incident?" Regina asked.

"No, I haven't" Red looked down ashamed "I know I am always defending them, and I will continue to do that, but a part of me is still a little upset about what they said to Emma"

"They have been going to the library a lot" Belle said "Snow asked me if I had any books about spells"

"Why would they be looking at spell books?" Regina asked intrigued.

"I don't know, I didn't ask"

* * *

"I have to be honest Emma, this town gives me chills" Angelica told Emma as they were walking around the town.

"I know, I felt the same way the first time. But it is actually a really nice town, the people are really nice"

Leo and Angelica smiled at Emma and continued walking.

After a few minutes of walking in silence Emma asked "why? Why after all these years?" She had wanted to ask this question since she first saw them.

"We just wanted to make sure that you were all right" Angelica said turning her head to look at Emma "I know we broke our promise Emma...and we are so sorry for that"

"Sometimes I think how different my life would've been if I had stayed with you two" Emma said with a sad smile, "I am sure I wouldn't have ended up being the screwed up person that I became"

Angelica stopped and took Emma's hand to stop her, she turned her around so they could be making eye contact. "Emma, don't call yourself that, you are not that. You are a strong woman who had to deal with things that no child or person should ever deal with"

"Look at you Emma" Leonardo said "you are an amazing young woman who had overcome so much, so don't call yourself that"

Emma smiled and gave Angelica a hug. They continued talking for a while. Leo and Angelica told Emma that they had three kids and a big music company in New York and Los Angeles. Emma told them how Henry found her and how she decided to stay in the small town. Emma showed the Hierro's the town and they left to their room to take a shower rest and get ready to have dinner with Emma and his family at Granny's.

* * *

"Are you ok Snow?" David asked Snow.

Snow shakes her head. How could she be ok, when her own daughter had pushed her away almost making her fall?

"We are losing her David" Snow said looking up at David whit tears rolling down her checks "with every day that passes we are losing her more and more. She...she had never called me Ms. Blanchard and...,"she took a deep breath, she couldn't let herself crumble, not when she needed to stay strong to get her daughter back "and she...she pushed me away telling me that I shouldn't hug her, and that's the only thing I want to do every time I see her, I just want to bring her into my arms and never let her go again"

David walked up to Snow and brought her into his arms "I know I want to do the same thing. But Snow we have been to wars and we have succeeded, we will get our daughter back this time too"

"I would rather battle a thousand wars over and over again than do this" Snow said "did you see her eyes David? I saw nothing in them, not even anger, as if she didn't care about us anymore"

"I know" David agreed.

* * *

"So they are the family who took you in when you were 9?" Henry asked Emma in their way to Granny's "the ones who taught you how to speak Spanish"

"Yes"

"Wait you speak another language love?" Killian asked surprised.

"Yeah, I guess I forgot to tell you that...sorry?" Emma said

"No that's fine, other languages sound sexy...you should..."

"Hey! She is my mother mate!" Henry said.

"Maybe you should...teach me" Killian finished and gave Emma a wink. Emma blushed and shook her head smiling.

"I can't wait to meet them!" Henry said excitedly.

Emma walked into Granny's and saw that Leo and Angelica were already at the circular booth. She smiled happily and walked towards them, they got off the booth and hug Emma.

"So these are my two men" Emma said referring to Killian and Henry "this is Henry my son and Killian my...boyfriend"

Henry smiled at the couple, they looked just as her mother had described them. He was happy to see that his mother was happy.

"Guys" Emma said looking at angelica and Leo "they are Angelica and Leonardo, my foster parents"

"Hi! Nice to meet you both" Henry said as he shock their hands "I cant wait for you to tell me stories of my mom!"

Angelica laughed and winked at Henry "oh you will enjoy them"

"And this is the famous Killian?" Leonardo half smiled at Killian.

"Nice too meet you both" Killian said.

"Come on lets sit...I am starving already" Emma said.

Emma was sitting between Angelica and Killian and Henry was sitting next to Killian leaving Leonardo to sit next to Angelica.

"So Angelica" Henry started "how was my mom when she was a child"

"Oh really you want to go there?" Emma asked

"Oh your mother was umm...she was a good kid she was really shy at first but then she warmed up to us and she became this loving and adventurous child" Angelica explained.

"What do you mean with adventurous?"

"There was this little pond with turtles near our house and she would always go and just sit at the edge of it. We would ask why she went to that pond so much, and she would always say that she was feeling adventurous," Angelica explained.

"Oh I remember that pond!" Emma said excitedly "it was so beautiful there, so peaceful"

"Did she ever do anything wrong?" Henry asked.

"Oh yeah she did...well not something wrong but she used to climb to this big tree that was at our backyard, we used to tell her not to, because it was dangerous. But your mother has this really strong will" Leonardo said smiling at Emma "one day we heard a crash followed by a really high cry. We run outside and found a 10 year old Emma in the ground with her arm broken"

"Yeah that was bad. It really hurt, I remember the ambulance and then I passed out from the pain," Emma said remembering that day.

"We didn't get to to the hospital on an ambulance, that was Angelica screaming" Leonardo explained

"I wasn't that loud!" Angelica said hitting Leo in the arm playfully.

"Cars pulled over honey" Leo said

"Oh my good really!?" Emma asked laughing.

"You were about to pass out!" Angelica defended herself.

Emma and the others started laughing uncontrollably, and that is how Snow and David were received when they walked in to Granny's.

David looked over and saw Emma with her head on the table laughing really loud with two strangers who were laughing with her.

Snow looked at Emma and was surprised to see her laughing that hard. The only booth that was free was the one behind Emma's, so they had to sit there. David settled in the sit behind Emma who didn't even noticed that they were there. Snow sat in front of David and placed Neal to her right.

"Oh my good! I don't know why we never talked about that!" Emma said as she tried to control her laughter "I can totally imagine you freaking out"

Snow and David looked at each other with puzzled looks, they were so confused, why were these strangers talking to their daughter as if they knew her?

"I was scared! I just saw mi niña _(mi girl)_ in the ground crying with a broken arm, how do you think I was going to react?!"

Emma smiled at Angelica and said "Aww" and she gave Angelica a half hug.

Snow felt something that she hadn't felt in a long time. Jealousy. She looked as her daughter wrapped an arm around that woman and she couldn't help but feel jealous. Emma was HER daughter, and she never really gave Snow many hugs. Who was this woman and why was her daughter hugging her?

David looked at Snow's expression and turned around to see Emma hugging this strange woman. He turned around and gave her wife an understanding look.

"I swear you two were the best foster parents I had" Emma gave a grateful smile to Angelica and Leonardo.

David felt as if someone had a sword in his heart. The strangers were Emma's foster parents, and Emma apparently really liked them. He was grateful that Emma had a nice set of foster parents but he didn't know if their arrival would make things worst. Snow closed her eyes and bended her head down feeling exactly the same as her husband.

Henry was the only one who saw David and Snow walked in. He saw her grandmother's reaction when Emma hugged Angelica. In that moment he didn't saw Snow White the strong fearless bandit, he saw Mary Margaret the shy, insecure, sad teacher that he knew long time ago.

Red also saw that expression and her heart hurt for her friend. She walked up to Snow's table and gave Snow and David a small smile. "Mary, David" Red said a little louder so Emma could know that they were there "what can I get for you today?"

Snow kept her head down and said "the usual"

"I'll get the usual too" David said returning a little sad smile.

Emma closed her eyes and shock her head when she heard Red called Snow and David's names. How long have they been there?

"Are you ok Emma?" Angelica asked Emma.

"Yes, yes I am" Emma said giving Angelica a reassuring smile.

Red took David and Snow's order and walked towards Emma's table. "Do you want anything else?" She asked.

"No, I think we are fine. Thanks Ruby" Leonardo said, "We are just going to finish our drinks and remember old stories about Emma's childhood" he winked at Emma.

"Good" Red said giving them a half smile before going to the kitchen.

"So Henry, do you want to hear more stories about your mom?" Leonardo asked.

Henry looked at Leonardo and back at Snow who was looking down at her hand while playing with her weeding ring. "Maybe later? mom I think I have to go to my other mom's house, I left my backpack there" Henry said as he stood up.

Killian looked at Henry and knew that something was wrong "I will escort him love" he said looking at Emma.

"Ok, that's good" Emma said standing up and giving Henry a hug "I will see you tomorrow"

"Ok mom" Henry said before he got up and left with Killian.

Emma turned and saw Snow looking at her. She still felt ashamed of pushing her own mother so she immediately looked down at the ground and sat down next to Angelica again.

"Is it hard to share him with someone else?" Angelica asked Emma referring to Henry.

"At first it was" Emma began "but then I realized that he could have double the love...and then it became easier"

"Good" Leo said.

"So Emma" Angelica said "I wanted to ask you this question this afternoon but for some reason I couldn't"

"Go ahead, you can ask me anything" Emma said.

"Did you ever found them?" Angelica asked

Emma immediately knew who _THEM_ were; she didn't know what to answer. _THEM_ were literally behind her, and she knew that no matter her answer she was going to hurt them.

Emma took a deep breath in and said, "Yes, I did" She couldn't lie to them; she couldn't lie to herself.

"Oh" Leonardo said surprised "do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not right now" Emma said "I really don't want to talk about it right now"

"Ok, we understand Emma" Angelica said taking Emma's hand "it's ok if you don't want to talk about them"

Snow and David looked at each other, they knew that they were _THEM_.

"Thank you...so how long do you guys plan to stay here?" Emma asked.

"We planed to stay here for four days" Angelica explained, "We were going to look for you..."

"You don't have to look for me anymore" Emma smiled "so now that you found me...are you going to leave"

"Of course not!" Angelica and Leo said at the same time

"We can stay here and spend some time together" Leo said "if you don't mind of course"

"I would love that. I still can't believe that you guys are here...right now"

"Oh my good! I totally forgot! We have a surprise for you Emma!" Angelica said almost jumping up and down in the booth "I am sure you are going to love it!"

"Oh yeah! The gift!" Leo said remembering the gift they got for Emma.

"What is this famous gift?"

"You know how we hired a private detective to find you?" Angelica asked

"Yeah?" Emma said looking at Angelica.

"Well, he gathered a lot of information about you. He was able to contact your first foster parents and other people. And we saved all the photos and videos that we gather" Leonardo said looking at Emma who was wide eyed.

"We were able to gather quite a few pictures and videos, and other stuff that we knew you will appreciate" Angelica said "and we put all those memories together"

"Videos? What type of videos?" Emma asked intrigued.

"Well it's a surprise, let's just say that apparently your first family had an obsession with cameras or something, just like Leonardo's brother"

Snow and David looked up when they heard that. Those people had videos of Emma, of their baby girl? David felt like getting up and force those people to let him watch his Emma, his little girl.

"Umm I...I don't know what to say" Emma mumbled.

"You don't have to say anything" Angelica said giving Emma a half hug "we are just happy that you are finally happy"

"Thank you so much...for everything" Emma whispered.

After some more chatting Angelica and Leonardo headed out to their room, giving Emma a tight hug. Once Leo and Angelica were gone Emma turned to face her parents who were looking at her with a hurt expression. She wanted to apologize to her mother, but she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to talk to them.

"Emma?" David whispered.

Emma turned around and got out of Granny's.

* * *

"What is going on lad" Killian asked as they walked towards Regina's house "I know that something is wrong"

"I just...I saw Snow's face when my mom hugged Angelica, and she looked so much like Mary Margaret, she looked sad as if a part of her was missing" Henry explained "and I couldn't help but feel bad for her. It's just that...Mary Margaret was there for me when nobody else was. She never made me feel like the crazy kid that everyone thought I was. I needed to get out of Granny's because I wanted to help her, I wanted to make her smile like she did when I was a sad lonely kid."

"But a part of you is still upset because they hurt your mother" Killian said in understanding.

"Yes" Henry admitted looking down "I am still upset but at the same time I don't want to see them hurt which is ironic because I know I've hurt them"

"it's ok to feel that way lad, after all they are your family too, and I know that you still care about them, just like your mother"

Henry stopped once he was at the driveway. "Thank you Killian, for listening and understanding, and can you please not tell my mom about this? I just...I don't want her to feel guilty"

"Ok lad I understand"

"Take care of her Killian" Henry said before opening the door.

"I will" Killian said as he turned around to leave.

"Oh you are here!" Henry heard her other mom say from the living room.

"Hey mom" Henry said as he walked into the living room, his mother was reading a weird looking book.

Regina saw Henry's face and knew that something was wrong. She moved over and patted the seat next to her. Henry let out a breath and sat next to Regina at the couch. "What is it?" Regina asked

Henry told Regina what he had told Killian no long ago.

"Henry I know this whole situation is affecting you too" Regina said as he took Henry's hand in hers "I want you to know that is ok to feel that way, you are not betraying your mother"

"How did you know?" Henry asked. How did she know that he felt as if he was betraying Emma?

Regina gave Henry a smiled and said "I've known you since you were baby, I raised you...give some credit"

Henry smiled and they stayed quiet for a moment.

"I talked to Snow today" Regina blurted out.

 **Thank you for reading! And please leave comments!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Yey! More than 100 reviews! I swear you guys make me so happy every time you leave a review.**

 _After the little morning incident with her daughter Snow decided to ask someone for help, someone who knew about magic and the only option was Regina._

 _Snow stood up in the doorway remembering the time she asked Regina to crush her heart. She remembered the pain that she felt when she took Cora's life, but nothing could compare to the pain she was feeling right now. She knocked in the door and waited._

 _Regina opened the door and saw Snow; she was surprised to see her._

 _"Snow?" Regina said raising an eyebrow "what are you doing here?"_

 _"I need your help Regina" Snow said looking at Regina with pleading eyes "I need your help to get my daughter back"_

 _Regina was taken a back "why should I help you?" She was still angry with David a d Snow, she could still remember Emma crying in the floor._

 _"Because you took her away from me once" Snow said a little more fearlessly "please Regina help me to get my baby girl back"_

 _Regina looked at Snow and saw the scared, motherless little girl that she knew long time ago. She felt bad for the woman in front of her, she didn't have that spark in her eyes anymore, it almost seem as if her light was slowly turning off._

 _"I don't really see how I can help"_

 _"Regina we were cursed or put under some kind of spell" Snow explained "it wasn't us who said those horrible things to Emma"_

 _"Are you here to blame me?"_

 _"No, of course not. I just...you know about magic and I don't"_

 _"Go ask the blue fairy then"_

 _"I did and she couldn't find any trace of any spell on us"_

 _Regina let out a breath. For some reason she wanted to help Snow, she knew that she had taken a lot from her, including Emma. "Come on in, and I will see what I can do"_

 _Snow gave Regina a small grateful smile. They went inside the house and Snow told her everything that she knew, including the little incident at Granny's where she saw Emma and Neal together and she remembered what she had said to her daughter._

 _"So you couldn't move?" Regina asked_

 _"No, I tried but I couldn't, and then everything went black"_

 _"What about Neal were you cursed when you were with him?"_

 _"No, that's the weird part, I was umm...normal when I was with Neal and every time I thought about Emma it was as if a switch went on and I would just stop thinking about her"_

 _Regina was really intrigued, she had never heard of any spell that will function like that "do you remember when the spell broke"_

 _"Yes" Snow said looking down at her lap "when I told Emma that I didn't love her and that I never will" Snow closed her eyes, she could still hear her daughter pained sob._

 _Regina looked at Snow and saw the pain and regret in her face, that's when she knew that Snow wasn't lying. "The course broke when you broke your daughter's heart" Regina whispered._

 _Snow nodded. Regina didn't know what came to her, she put her hand on top of Snow's and squished it "we will find what really happened...I will help you to get your daughter back"_

 _Snow looked up at Regina and smiled "Thanks Regina"_

Regina told Henry the whole story and how she was looking for spells that could explain what happened.

"Do you believe them?" Henry asked.

"I believe HER," Regina said referring to Snow.

Henry didn't know what to say. He wanted to believe them too, but he could he could and wouldn't let anybody else hurt his mother again.

"I don't" Henry blurted out "if you want to help them go ahead help them, but I wont. And they better keep away from my mom" He got out and walked to his room.  
Regina shook his head, this curse did not only hurt Emma, and it hurt Henry too. The truest believer didn't trust his own grandparents.

* * *

At night

"What if we lose her to them?" Snow said as she rested her head on her husband's shoulder.

"We won't, we won't let anybody else take our daughter away from you again"

"But they knew her when she was a kid, they have a bond with her that we don't have"

"We will get her back Snow, I think we have to show her that she still matters to us"

"How David? She doesn't even wants to be near us"

"We will find a way, if she pushes us away we have to push in harder"

* * *

"I pushed my mother away from me today" Emma told Killian. She was in the same position as her mother. "She hugged me and I pushed her away...she almost felt"

"Are you ok?" Killian said as he stroke Emma's hair.

"No, I feel like the worst person ever, but at the same time I can't talk to them. I am afraid that if I talk to them they will hurt me again"

"How did they react when they saw you with your foster parents" Killian asked.

"They looked sad" Emma said closing her eyes and hugging Killian tight "I don't want to hurt them Killian"

* * *

The next day Leonardo and Angelica had breakfast at Granny's and headed out to walk around the town. They were going to meet Emma at the station to have lunch together.

David walked into the sheriff station to find Emma working on some paperwork. He stood in the office doorway and said "Good morning Emma"

Emma jumped a little; she didn't hear him come in. She looked up and said "Good morning" she looked back at the paperwork in front of her.

David run his hand trough his hair, this was going to be really hard. "So I was thinking that maybe we could do the first patrol together?" He said as he walked into the office.

Emma looked up and gave him a puzzled look. "I thought you liked to do the patrols by yourself...so no. I will do desk duty today. You can patrol by yourself"

"If that is what you want..." David murmured before walking out of her office to go to his desk.

"Wait David" Emma said

David immediately walked back in the office with a hopeful expression.

"The car needs to get the oil change, so could you take it to the mechanic? I was going to take it but..." for some reason she didn't want to tell him that she was going to have lunch with the Hierro family "I have things to do in the office"

David's face fell. Emma saw this and looked down at her paperwork again. "Thank you," She said, hating to see her dad like that.

* * *

"I think we will need more help" Regina told Snow as they say at the sofa in the major's office "I am not that good at researching...Belle on the other hand"

"I can't ask her, she is Emma's friend, I don't think she will help me." Snow said

"I thought you will say that. That's why I asked her to help"

"What? Why?" Snow said surprised.

"Snow" Regina said slowly knowing that she was going to hurt Snow "this curse or wherever, did not only affected Emma...Henry he is..."

"I know, and I am so sorry" Snow said looking down again.

"And as you said yesterday, I took your daughter from you, and I plan to help you get her back. I know that deep down Emma wants to forgive you, but we will need actual proof"

"Thanks, so does Belle knows that you are helping me?"

"No, not exactly. But I am sure she suspects it."

* * *

David took the car to the mechanic and waited there until it was fixed. He looked at his clock and noticed that it was almost lunchtime. An idea came to his mind, he was going to get Emma some lunch just as he used to.

Emma was just finishing her paperwork when she heard someone come in. She looked up and saw Leonardo smiling at her with two paper bags from Granny's. She felt a little squish in her heart when she realized that her father used to this for her all the time.

"Angelica is in the car talking to one of our clients" Leo explained as he placed the bags in Emma's desk.

"Ok, thanks for the food" Emma smiled at Leo, gesturing him to sit down "so how big is your music company"

"Well we have recording studios in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and in Mexico and Puerto Rico"  
"Wow" Emma said impressed "so basically is pretty big"

Leonardo let out a laugh "Yeah we have expanded over the years, we basically give people the opportunity to share their talent"

"That's amazing" Emma said as she took her food out of the bag "Do you ever get people who have like no talent and they think they do?"

"Oh yeah, all the time"

"And what do you do with them?"

"I let Angelica handle that situations, she is more...direct?" Leo laughed.

Emma laughed knowing exactly what Leo was referring to.

"Don't tell her that I said that though" Leo winked at Emma.

"I won't I promise, it will be our secret" Emma laughed again.

At that moment David walked in, he had heard Emma say that last thing and his heart hurt. His girl was sharing secrets with that man, he remembered how he had little secrets with her about not telling Snow that he used to buy her or bring her sweets.

Emma looked up and saw David standing in the doorway with an unreadable expression caring two paper bags from Granny's.

"Oh hi" Leo said smiling at David "I don't think we have meet"

David looked at Emma and then at Leo "No I don't think we have"

Emma looked at Leo and then back at David "ummm...Leo this is David, he is the deputy. David this is Leo... he is" Emma didn't know how to introduce Leo.

"I was her foster father" Leo said smiling at Emma and shaking David's hand. "Nice to meet you David" Leo looked down at the bags that David was carrying and asked "are you going to have lunch with us?"

David looked at Emma who was looking down playing awkwardly with the straw in her soda.

"No, I will leave you two to catch up I guess" David said giving Leo a smile. For some reason he couldn't hate that man, he looked so nice and welcoming.

"Oh hey, sorry I'm late but I had to deal with an over dramatic artist" said Angelica as she walked into the office "Oh hi" she said when she saw David.

"He is the deputy, his name is David" Leo explained.

"Nice to meet you deputy" Angelica said shaking David's hand "oh did you brought Emma food? Do you guys eat together?" Angelica said when she saw David with two bags.

"Yeah I did" David said looking down at the bags "but I will leave you three alone"

"Oh no, you can stay if you want" Angelica said giving David a smile.

David looked at Emma who was still playing with her straw. "No I'll leave you three alone, I am sure you have to catch up with one another" David took a small bag from inside one of his bags and put it in the desk "I bought you a bear claw just in case you get hungry later".

Emma looked up at David and saw that he was trying to hide his feelings, like father like daughter she thought. "Thank you deputy," She said hatting herself for not even be able to call him David.

David nodded sadly and said "no problem"

"What was that?" Leonardo asked Emma once David was gone "he looked disappointed and...sad?"

Emma let out a breath and shook her head.

"Where you guys..." Angelica started

"Oh god no! That will be so wrong on so many ways" Emma said mortified.

"Let's forget about that, so how irritating was this celebrity that you were talking too"

"Umm you know she went a little diva on me" Angelica said as she sat down next to her husband "I just had to pull her down to planet earth"

Emma smiled at Angelica, she could be the sweetest person ever but if you got in her nerves she could be really scary. "Just like my mom" Emma thought referring to Snow. Emma was surprised to find herself constantly thinking about her parents. They had literally broke her heart and here she was thinking about them.

"Do you remember the little...incident at the library?" Emma asked Angelica with a mischievous smile. She needed to change the subject; she needed to stop thinking about her parents.

"Oh I remember" Angelica said as she took her food out of the bag

"I bet that librarian still remembers as well" Emma smiled grew bigger remembering that day.

 _Emma was at the public library doing some homework; once she was done she decided to look for a book to take home with her. She look trough the bookshelves and she found a book called City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende, she chose that book because she liked the illustration and the texture of the book._

 _Emma walked up to the librarian and gave her the book to check out. The librarian studied her. Emma knew this old librarian, one of the last foster homes that she was in made a weakly trip to the library._

 _"This is way to hard for you," The librarian said as she took the book from Emma and placed it in a bookshelf behind her. Emma lowered her head and walked back to choose another book. She ended up choosing a book about animals in a zoo. She returned to the librarian who stamped the book without even looking up at Emma._

 _Emma waited outside the library until Angelica picked her up._

 _"So what book did you choose?" Angelica asked as Emma sat in the passenger sit._

 _"Umm this one" Emma said showing her the book._

 _Angelica tilted her head as he drove away from the library "Really? Do you like that book?"_

 _"The old lady didn't let me take the one I wanted?"_

 _"What old lady?" She said as she parked in the side road and turn off the ignition._

 _"The librarian"_

 _"Why didn't she let you take the book you wanted?"_

 _"She said that the book was too hard for me"_

 _Angelica turned on the ignition again and drove back to the library. They got out of the car and Angelica took Emma's hand and marched up to the librarian's desk._

 _"I am Mrs. Hierro and this is my daughter Emma. Did you tell her that she couldn't read a book because it was to hard for her?"_

 _The librarian looked up at Angelica and raised an eyebrow. "She wanted to read City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende" she says adjusting her glasses "she is to young...look at her"_

 _Emma lowered her head "yeah look at me" she thought._

 _Angelica took a deep breath "where is the book?"_

 _The librarian turned around and got the book and put it on the desk with a hand over it._

 _Angelica reached out and basically yanked the book from the librarian. She handed the book to Emma with a little smile, then she turned around and gave the librarian a harsh look._

 _"Don't you ever tell a child that something is too hard for them" Angelica snapped "and NEVER, EVER, this child"_

 _Emma was surprised to hear Angelica use that tone with that old woman, specifically because she was always so nice to everyone, but she loved it. She loved that Angelica stood up for her._

 _They left the library and Emma felt as if they had battle a really cranky dragon._

"Oh come on!" Angelica said, "She had it coming!"

Emma gave Angelica a grateful smile "I never really thanked you for that, so thank you, you were the first person who stood up for me"

"I would do it all over again" Angelica smiled at Emma.

They continued eating and remembering old times, the good and the bad. Emma felt like she was meeting with some old friends.

"Do you guys mind if I ask you something?" Emma said.

"Go ahead you can ask us anything" Leo answered.

"Did you do it?" Emma blurted out.

Angelica and Leonardo looked at each other; they knew what Emma meant. The reason why Emma was taken from them was because someone had accused them of money laundering. They were wrongly accused but by the time they got out of jail Emma was nowhere to be found.

"Do you really think that we will do something like that?" Angelica asked a little hurt.

"No, I mean...I was 12 I didn't really knew...but I don't..."

"That's ok Emma" Leo said "is a natural question to ask. We didn't do it, we were framed, but it took us three years to prove that"

"What happened during those three years?"

"We went to federal prison," Angelica said looking down at her lap.

"I am so sorry" Emma murmured, feeling bad for bringing that up "I didn't mean to..."

"That's ok Emma" Angelica said reaching up and taking her hand squishing it. "We knew you were going to ask us that"

"If it makes you feel any better, I was in jail too" Emma said

"What?!"

Emma told them the whole Neal story, and why they were not able to find her since she left the foster system at 16 and got pregnant at 18.

"We are so sorry Emma" Leo apologize

"Oh no no no, it wasn't your fault at all" Emma immediately said, "I was the one who made bad choices"

The Hierro's explained to Emma why they weren't able to look for her earlier. Emma totally understood. A part if her was sad, she would've love to live with the Hierro's, but another part of her knew that is she would've stayed she would've had Henry or meet Killian or her friends.

"Why don't we spend tomorrow together?" Emma asked them with a smile "I can take the day off and we can talk more"

"Great!" Angelica said excitedly "maybe we can have a picnic? I mean the beach is beautiful and the forest is just...it almost seems magical"

 **Hope you guys liked it!**

 **Please leave a review! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Umm first of all I never meant for Regina to sound like she only believed Snow, I think I've been really partial between the involvement of Snow and David in this story. I try to give them both sweat and not so sweat moments with Emma.**

 **So there is something wrong with my fanfic account, for some reason I can't see how many views I've gotten in the last two chapters and to be honest that is kind of discouraging :( I feel like nobody is reading it lol...I know I am a drama queen, but one of the nice things was to know that people were actually reading this story. Anyways back to the story...**

* * *

Henry was walking towards the sheriff station when he saw David inside the sheriff's cars eating what seemed like a hamburger, he looked sad. Henry raised an eyebrow, what if Snow was telling the truth and they have been cursed? A part of him wanted to believe that, but another part of him wanted to keep them away from his mother. He remembered how David took care of him while Snow and Emma were in fairytale land and how he almost died in Neverland to save him.

Henry walked to the driver window "Hey" Henry said, "Are you ok?"

David turned his head around and gave Henry a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Hi, Henry. Yes, I am...fine" David said as he opened the door and stood next to Henry. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Today was the last day, and it was minimum day" Henry answered looking at David who looked as if he hadn't sleep in days.

"And you are here to visit your mother?"

"Actually no, I am here to show the Hierros the town and the pier" Henry shrugged.

"Oh, I see" David said looking away. "Henry...I know that we haven't really talked about..."

"Don't" Henry said "I know that you and Ms. Blanchard believe that you were...cursed"

"We don't believe, we were cursed Henry" David said looking at Henry again. It hurt to know that not even his grandson believed him "Do you really think that we would do something like that?"

Henry saw David's hurt eyes and looked down "I only want to protect her from anyone who might hurt her. And you and Ms. Blanchard hurt her like no other...I have to go" Henry turned around and left a hurt David behind.

Henry walked in the sheriff's office and greeted both Angelica and Leonardo. Angelica's phone rang and she excused herself, Leonardo also followed her outside.

"Thank you for showing them around" Emma said.

"No problem mom, they seem really nice and I want to hear more about your time with them...mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I saw Mr. Nolan outside, eating in the car...he looked...sad. What happened?"

"Oh nothing, don't worry about it. Speaking of them... Henry I have notice that you are calling them Mr. Nolan and Ms. Blanchard...why? Because of what they said to me?" Henry nodded "Henry what they said they said it to me, it wasn't about you. I don't want you to feel as if you need to..."

"Mom" Henry interrupted "I wish they would've said that to me. It would've hurt less than see you hurt"

"Oh Henry" Emma said as she hugged him. "I am sorry you had to see me that way but if you want to talk to them, or you know...you can, I won't get mad or anything"

"I don't want to, but thanks I guess"

Henry left with the Hierro's and Emma stayed at the station getting more paperwork done so she could spend the next day with the Hierro's.

It was already five o'clock and Emma was sitting at her office finishing the last thing she needed to do for the day.

"I do love when you wear your glasses" Emma heard Killian say. She turned around and saw Killian leaning in the doorframe with his arms close and with an eyebrow raised.

"How long have you been there?" Emma asked with a smile.

"A while" Killian winked

"You are such a creep" Emma said as she stood up and walked towards him "but you are MY creep" Emma wrapped her arms around Killian's neck and kissed him tenderly.

"So how was lunch with the Hierro's?" Killian asked

Emma told him the whole David situation.

"And how do you feel about it?" Killian said as he caressed Emma's check.

"I just don't want to hurt them like they hurt me. You know they have this theory that they were cursed? Well I think that is pure bullshit. A part of me wants to believe that but I just can't. I think David wants to get things to how they were before, you know us eating lunch together and stuff"

"Do you want things to go back to the way they were?" Killian asked.

"No, they can't. Every time I see them I remember all the horrible things they said to me and I just get upset... things will never be the same again" Emma said sadly as she rested her head on Killian's shoulder.

"Everything might get better...don't lose hope love" Killian wrapped his arms around Emma and kissed her temple "besides you have a devilish handsome man...you should feel lucky"

Emma looked up at Killian and said "I do" They kissed tenderly.

Emma and Killian headed to Granny's where the Hierro's and Henry were waiting for them. Henry was laughing at something that Leonardo was telling him. They had dinner together while they chatted as old friends. They finished their dinner and the Hierro's headed to their room.

"Umm Emma?" Red called Emma "First of all I am happy that you are happy with the Hierro's but what do they want though?" Red asked

"Well I am not completely sure, they said that they wanted to know if I was ok" Emma said looking back at Red. She knew that her friends were worried about new people entering the town. "Hey listen I get that you guys are worried about them, but they were able to get into the town because they had that map...you know Hook's map"

* * *

Emma invited the Hierro's to eat breakfast at her house.

"Wow Emma!" Angelica said as they were eating "this place is amazing, I am really proud of how far you've come"

"Thank you" Emma said shyly.

They finished their breakfast and Henry invited Leo and Angelica to go see his horse. Leo accepted but Emma and Angelica decided to stay and have some girl time.

"I can't believe you are leaving tomorrow night," Emma said as she walked trough the forest.

"We will keep in touch, and you can go visit us and then we will come visit you. I could bring my kids so they could meet you" Angelica said with a little smile.

In that moment Emma realized the implication of other people coming to Storybook. The last time a stranger got into storybook all hell broke lose and almost everyone died.

"Ummm, yeah that'll be great" Emma smiled at Angelica.

"And, you know you could see everybody again...do you remember Sofia?

"Yes, I do. She was your sister's daughter right? She was 15 when I first moved to you guys. She was a little...umm"

"Over dramatic?" Angelica laughed

"Yeah that"

"Well it paid off, she is now an actress. She lives in LA and is quite successful"

"Oh wow" Emma said impressed "I am happy for her, she was a nice girl. She taught me how to fight"

"Yes I remember that too" Angelica said tilting her head and smiling at Emma "Do you remember how my sister used to argue with her?"

"Oh my good yes!" Emma laughed, "It was quite funny how they fought. I mean one minute they were screaming at each other and the next they were hugging telling each other how much they loved one another"

"That's how we Latinos fight and love" Angelica laughed as they continued walking deeper into the forest.

Emma smiled at Angelica and said in her best-annoyed teenager voice "But mom! You just don't get it!" Emma said playfully imitating Sofia.

Angelica laughed and said in her best annoyed parent voice "That's not way to talk to your mother young lady!"

Snow was using her arrow; she used to find that relaxing, and then she heard someone getting closer. She looked up and saw Emma walking along with that lady again, they seemed as if they were playing around and having fun. She heard her daughter call that lady mom and her heart felt as if someone was squishing it. They continued talking and smiling getting closer to where Snow was. They were so into their own little world that they didn't notice that Snow was watching them.

Emma and Angelica continued their little mocking monolog.

"But mom I love you!" Emma said remembering how the arguments between the two women will end.

Snow closed her eyes when she heard Emma say that. Hearing her daughter say that to another woman broke her heart. She took a deep breath trying not to cry.

Emma laughed and looked up; she stopped dead in her tracks her eyes wide. She saw Snow looking at her with teary eyes and a hurt face expression. Emma realized what her little conversation with Angelica might've sounded like to Snow. Emma looked down at the ground. Angelica looked up too when she saw Emma stop.

"Oh hey there" Angelica said looking at Snow.

Snow turned her head to look at the strange woman. She looked like a kind and warm woman. "Hi" Snow said to the woman.

"Where you practicing archery?" Angelica said once she saw Snow holding an arrow.

Snow looked down at her hand that was holding the bow and said "umm yeah"

Emma took a deep breath and looked up to see Snow again. She gave her a smile, but Snow knew that she was only doing that because the other woman was there.

"Angelica this is Ms. Blanchard " Emma said "Ms. Blanchard this is Angelica"

"Nice to meet you" Angelica said politely.

Snow gave Angelica a smile and a nod. Emma sensed Snow's tension and said "umm we will leave you to practice, come on Angelica let's go back" Emma said as she turned around to leave

"Wait Emma" Angelica said taking Emma's hand in hers. Snow looked down at their hands and then she looked the other way, "breath Snow, breath" she told herself.

"Come on Angelica we have to go and meet the boys at the house" Emma pleaded Angelica

She wanted to get the hell out of there. She saw Snow's face and all she could see was Mary Margaret's expression. The shy and hurt expression that Mary Margaret used to have when she was cursed and living a lonely sad life.

Angelica looked at Emma with a questioning face. She looked back at Mary Margaret and saw that she had a hurt expression. "Umm...good-bye Ms. Blanchard" Angelica said as she turned around.

Emma let go of Angelica's hand and walked fast towards her home. "I just wanted to see her use that bow" Angelica explained "she looked like she knew how to use it"

"Sorry for acting like that but we are just not...ummm...talking right now" Emma said kicking a rock that was in her way.

"I could see that there was some tension between you two. Do you want to talk about it?"

"We were best friends" Emma started "she was nice and welcoming. Remember that I told you that a roommate that I had here was the one who helped me up, the one that convinced me to stay here in storybook?"

"Yes, I remember"

"Well that was her, Ms. Blanchard. She helped me when I needed someone the most. She gave me a house and company. She basically became like part of my family"

"And then what happened?"

"Ummm let's just say that she said really nasty things to me. She really really hurt me, like nobody else had"

Angelica nodded "have you talked to her about it?"

"No"

"Why?"

"There is no point in talking about it. Things changed so much the day she said all those things"

"You are afraid to open up to her again...you are afraid that she might hurt you again?"

"Yes"

* * *

Emma and Angelica prepared everything for their little picnic at the pier by the beach. Emma knew that this was one of the last good days of sun they will have since winter was approaching fast. They got to the beach and settle some blankets on the sand. There were some kids playing around and a couple of people just walking enjoying the day.

"Henry is really good with horses," Leonardo said as they were getting everything ready.

"Yes, he is" Emma smiled at Henry.

"You were good too!" Henry told Leonardo.

"Thanks, but I could tell that you have this special bond with your horse"

"Well...ummm. David, the deputy showed me how to take care of them and learn to find their trust first"

"Wise man" Angelica said "Why don't we play volleyball before we eat?"

Killian looked at Emma with a questioning face. Emma laughed a little, she had to be honest Killian cluliness to some of the things of this world were adorable.

"What about boys vs. girls?" Emma asked "me and Angelica vs. Leo and Henry"

"Oh you are so going down!" Leo said as he got up.

"What about Killian?" Angelica asked.

"He doesn't really like to play volleyball, he can keep score though"

The Hierro's and the Swans started to play volleyball and have fun with each other. The score was tight but the girls were winning.

Snow decided to go with David and do the patrols together. They went to the pier and decided to take a little walk in the beach. They both needed each other; both their encounters with their daughter had left them with a little hole in their hearts.

"It's just hard to see her with them. I am happy that she had a nice foster home, I am. But I just feel that we might lose her to them" Snow said as she got out of the car. "I am happy that she is happy but I won't deny that it hurts to see her with them"

"I totally understand Snow, but remember we have to keep strong and look for prof. I know that Emma won't believe us is there is no prof"

"That's another thing charming, I thought our relationships with her was stronger. If she needs prof to believe us then we never had the relationship I thought we had. I know we hurt her but...I don't know I just" Snow stopped when she heard Emma's high pitch laugh.

"Are you ok?" Emma asked Henry as she continued laughing. Henry had landed in the sand trying to reach the ball.

"The only thing that broke was my dignity" Henry said as he got up.

Emma threw her head back and laughed even harder. Henry looked around to see if somebody else had seen him. Just as he was scanning his surroundings he catch a glimpse of Snow and David. Snow looked again like Mary Margaret and David had the same hurt face that he had when he was eating alone in the sheriff's car. Henry made eye contact with them and he felt sorry for them...he really truly sorry for them. Henry looked down and when he looked up again his grandparents were gone.

"What is it kid?" Emma asked looking at the direction Henry was looking at.

"Oh nothing mom, let's keep playing" Henry didn't want his mother to know that the Charmings were there. She was enjoying this day and he wasn't going to ruin it.

Snow and David walked up to the sheriff's car and got in without saying a word.

"Can you drop me off at Regina's?" Snow broke the silence.

"Sure, have she found anything yet?" David asked,

"No, she hasn't. We are looking in every spell book she owns but we haven't found anything yet. She asked Belle for help"

"Good, Snow I know this whole situation hurts but we can't give up, we can't give up on our daughter"

"We won't Charming" Snow said giving David a little sad smile "we will always find her, we will always bring her home where she belongs"

Emma and the others continued with their little picnic. They ate and chatted about Emma's childhood with Leo and Angelica. The Hierros told Emma about their children and how they adopted two of their five children. Henry found himself constantly thinking about what his mother Regina had told him. He had seen his grandparent's sad and guilty expressions. What if they were telling the truth? What if he had snapped at them when they were innocent?

"Henry are you ok?" Emma whispered to Henry "you look distracted"

"Oh, I am fine mom. I was just thinking about something,"

"Ok" Emma said not believing him; she knew something was bothering him.

"Henry did you know that your mother has a really amazing voice?" Angelica said teasing Emma.

Emma opened her eyes wide. "Oh no no no please"

Leo laughed and said "oh yes, she used to sing, I am sure she still has a really nice voice"

"Sing mom!" Henry said enthusiastically.

Emma blushed and looked at Killian who was looking at her with a smirk.

"I don't sing anymore, that was like one time"

"Ohhh man!, I wish I could hear you sing" Henry said

"Emma do you remember the box that we told you about..." Leonardo started

Emma's eyes went even wider. The box, the videos, her singing "we better stop talking about this, I swear if this gets out I will hurt whoever..."

"Wow! we won't tell anyone mom, don't go all crazy in us"

They finished eating and they decided to go back to Emma's house.

"Sorry guys, this is not New York. There is not much to see here" Emma said as they entered Emma's house.

"Oh don't worry about it, we came here to look for you, and now we are here to be with you" Angelica said, "you know remember old times"

"So does that mean you are going to sing love?" Killian asked. Emma gave him a harsh look.

"Sorry, sorry. Just playing" Killian said raising his hands in surrender.

Emma knew what the Hierro's were referring to when they said that she used to sing. When she was 10 years old she wrote a song for her parents. Angelica told her that one of the best ways to express our feelings is through music, so Emma wrote and song a song to the people who she wanted the most, her parents.

The Hierro stayed at Emma's and they continued talking and having fun remembering some of the crazy relatives of the Hierro. Emma and Angelica walked out the house and sat at the porch steps.

"Emma can I ask you something?" Angelica asked.

"Sure go ahead"

"Did you ever thought of us as your...parents?"

Emma tilted her head and took a deep breath. How was she supposed to answer that?

"Did you ever thought of me as your daughter?" Emma asked in return.

Angelica laughed, "Oh you are good, you are really good"

"Why don't we say our answer at the same time in the count of three?" Emma proposed.

"Deal"

"Ok...one, two three" Emma said

"No?" They both said at the same time.

They looked at each other and laughed relieved.

"Don't get me wrong Emma. I loved you. I really did" Angelica said taking Emma's hand.

"Oh please don't worry about it. I loved you too. I just...I thought of you more like a big sister I guess"

"I guess it was because of the circumstances. I mean I was 23 and you were nine...I still can't believe how they let us have you. But I am glad they did" Angelica said squishing Emma's hand.

"I am glad for that too" Emma smiled at Angelica.

The Hierro's left to Granny's inn, to rest before their trip back to New York. Emma and his family settled in for the night too.

* * *

At night

"How are you feeling about the Hierro leaving tomorrow love?" Killian asked as he wrapped Emma in his arms.

"I am ok. I talked to Angelica and she asked me if I ever thought of them as my parents, then I asked her if they ever thought of me as their daughter"

"And?"

"We both said no. I mean I wasn't surprised I knew they loved me but it was more like a...I don't know a different kind of love"

"Did you ever thought of any of your foster parents as real parents?"

"No, never. Even with Ingrid, I always saw her as I saw Angelica, like a big sister or an aunt"

"Why was that?"

"I guess I was waiting for my parents to show up and get me, and a part of me felt that if I loved someone else as a parent, then my real parents wouldn't want me"

"Oh love" Killian said kissing Emma in the temple.

* * *

The next day Emma and the Hierro family had breakfast at Granny's.

"I know we said that we were going to leave tonight but a little inconvenient happened at the office and we have to solve it" Leo apologized to Emma as they were having breakfast.

"Oh don't worry about it" Emma said

"You can come visit us anytime you want though" Angelica said, "you know my house is your house"

"Yeah, thanks. Can I please ask you guys a favor?"

"Anything" Leo said

"Umm this is going to sound weird but could you not tell anybody about me being here? Not even mention the town" Emma didn't want any strangers trying to find this town, she knew that the only reason that the Hierro could enter the town was because they had Killian's map.

The Hierros looked at each other. "Why Emma? Is somebody looking for you?" Angelica asked concerned.

"No, but I just don't want anybody and I mean anybody to know where I am. Can you guys do that for me?"

"We give you our word Emma. We won't tell anybody about this town or you" Leo said as he took out something from his pocket. "Here, you have it" he gave Emma the map that had guided them to them "without this map I don't think anyone could find this town"

"We understand that you don't want your past to follow you here, so when we come back to visit...I don't know we could meet in the city and you could guide us here. I don't think we could find this place by ourselves"

"Thank you, thank you so much for everything. I swear you guys couldn't have come in a better time, I really needed this, remember that not all my childhood was bad" Emma said as she took the map and save it in his pocket. A part of her was relieved to have that map in her hands, and she could always go and visit them.

"Why don't you go get the thing?" Angelica asked Leo. Leo got up and went to their hotel room.

"Are you happy here Emma?" Angelica asked.

"Yes, I am. I have my son I have Killian and my friends who are more like family"

"Ok great, all I wanted you to be was to be happy and now that I know you are...it just makes me feel better"

"Surprise!" Leo said as he put a medium size box in the table "well it's not really a surprise because we told you about it already, but surprise!"

"Oh my! Thank you...um I thought it was going to be more like a shoe size box"

"Oh no, we found a lot of things from your childhood. Photos, videos, school projects journals..."

"Umm journals?"

"Don't worry we didn't read any of them" Leo promised.

"This is amazing...I don't know how to thank you"

"A hug will do" Leo said winking at Emma.

Emma got out of the booth and hugged Leo. "Thank you so much"

Angelica got out of the booth and hugged the two of them.

"We have get going if we want to be in New York today" Leo told Angelica.

Emma Killian and Henry escorted the Hierro's to the town line.

"It was a pleasure meeting you" Henry told Leo and Angelica "and thank you for taking care of my mom when she needed you the most"

"Awww you are so sweet!" Angelica said as he hugged Henry "you keep taking care of her, and come visit us anytime you want"

"I will" Henry promised.

"It was nice meeting you" Killian told them.

"It was nice meeting you too Killian, and don't you dare hurt Emma. Let's just say that she has this big sister that will probably hurt you real bad if you do"

"Don't hurt her" Leo said "for your own good, you don't want to see Angelica angry...believe me"

"I...I won't" Killian said looking at Angelica.

"Oh guys leave him alone," Emma laughed as she approached thee Hierro's to give them a hug. "Thank you, thank you so much for everything," she said as she hugged them both.

"You take care Emma, and promise to call us and go and visit us"

"I promise I will call" Emma said giving them a final hug. The Hierro's got in to their car and Emma approached the driver window.

"Drive safe, and call me once you get to New York" Emma said with a smile.

"We will" Angelica said "and remember this is not goodbye, this is a...see you later"

"I know, I love you guys," Emma said sincerely.

"We love you too," The Hierros said.

Emma walked back to where Killian and Henry were and they waived goodbye to the Hierro's. Killian wrapped his arms around Emma's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Are you ok love?" Killian asked.

"Oh yes, I am. I actually never thought that I would ever see them again, so this was like a gift. Besides we will keep in contact and we can go visit them, is not like I will never see them again"

"It's kind of nice isn't it?" Henry asked "we are the only ones who can leave town, so if there is ever a zombie apocalypse we can just walk out of town and be like... you deal with it"

Emma laughed and wrapped a hand around Henry's shoulder. "That will be epic"

"And I thought I was the villain" Killian laughed.

* * *

Emma walked into the station caring the box that the Hierro's gave her. She placed it in the desk and slowly opened it. There were some folders that had artwork that she had done when she was a kid. There were also DVDs and apparently the Hierro had made a photo album with all the photos they've found. She also found the journal she started to write when she was seven, she used to find writing really relaxing and her journal was like a friend that she could tell anything to.

Emma sat at her chair and began to read her journal. She could actually see that scared little girl who only wanted her parents to find her, to come rescue her. She could see that little girl with the broken heart. Emma wanted to get into that journal and tell her that everything was going to be ok, she wanted to hug her and tell her to hold on. Emma couldn't help but feel a little angry about the injustices that she, the little girl, had to endure.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" David asked Snow. They have decided last night to make Emma listen to them.

"David we have to. Every day that passes is another day that Emma thinks that we said all those horrible things"

"Ok, I get it. Then let's go, let's do this" David agreed.

Emma was completely inside her own little world when she heard David call her name.

"Emma?" David asked as he got into the sheriff's station. Snow noticed that Emma was reading some kind of notebook; she also noticed the DVDs and the photo album. Her heart began to beat faster. The box that was on Emma's desk was the box that contained all of her daughter's memories.

"What are you reading?" Snow whispered taking David's hand.

"Nothing that concerns you" Emma said as she violently closed the journal and placed it back in the box along with the other things. She was so angry right now that she knew that she had to get out of the office; she needed to calm down.

The people who made her life a living hell were right there in front of her, she could finally tell them what their selfishness caused her.

"Emma that's not way to talk to your mother" David told Emma in a harsher tone that he intended.

"She is not my mother!" Emma snapped "and you have no right to use that tone with me"

Snow flinched and felt as is Emma had pounced her in the heart.

"I don't have the right?" David said getting closer to Emma "I do have the right young lady! I have that right because like it or not I am your father!"

Emma felt as if a switch had gone on in her head. If she thought that she was feeling angry a minute ago, she was wrong she was completely fucking angry right now.

"No! Neither of you have the right to call yourself my father or my mother. A mother doesn't abandon their newborn baby, a father is supposed to protect their kids and you never were there...neither of you. So no! You do not have that right!"

"Emma please" Snow pleaded, "You well know that we had to send you away because Regina was going to kill you."

"Where is this all coming from Emma? I thought we were passed this" David said "I thought you knew that we send you away to give you your best chance"

"Stop it with your best chance bullshit!"

"Emma! You have never talked to us that way. Is it because of that family? The Hierro's" David said

"Don't you dare get them involved in this!" Emma hissed

"Emma don't you know how hard it is for us to see you with them? We are happy you had them during your childhood, but that doesn't change the fact that it hurts" Snow began.

"It hurts to see someone else have the things we never had with you" David finished.

Emma completely lost it. She took the first thing that she saw, her mug, and threw it to the wall "Are you really that fucking self centered?! Are you really telling me that I don't know how it feels to see someone have the things that I never had!" Emma screamed at them

"Emma that's not what we meant" Snow whispered

Emma didn't hear her "How do you think I felt when I saw you singing to Neal to sleep while you completely ignored me? You know what people did to me so I could fall asleep!? Do you know how it feels to see all my classmates have the father daughter dance while I stood there like an idiot? Do you know how it feels to see mothers kiss their kids when the get a cut? You know what I got?! I got kicks and screams telling me that I wasn't good enough"

"Emma please" David begged felling as if someone was stabbing swords in his heart.

Emma took a deep breath trying to control herself but it only made her angrier remembering how she use to feel when she was a kid "Do you know that I don't believe that you were cursed when you told me all these horrible things right? I mean from the moment I was born it seemed that your main goal was to leave me, to fucking abandon me! Don't you know that I know that the only reason you came back from the enchanted forest was to used me to save your son?!"

"Emma please don't say that" Snow begged trough tears "we came back because we lo..."

"Don't you dare finish that! Don't you dare lie to me again!" Emma said furiously

"Emma stop please, let us talk to you. Let us explain" David begged.

Emma closed her eyes and looked up at her parents "Do you know that every night for more years that you could know the last thing I saw and heard before I sleep was people telling me that nobody wanted me, not even my own parents. You have abandoned me so many times and now is _MY_ turn to let you go" Emma made a movement with her hand and the box was gone.

"Emma please don't say that" Snow said as she took David's hand in her own. She needed him and she knew that he needed her too.

Emma walked to the door, just as she was about to get out of the office she turned around and said, "I never had parents and I am ok with that. When I needed you the most you weren't there...and now I don't want you to be there. I am ok in my own I don't need you. I don't love you, I never had and I never will"

Emma looked at the devastated expression of her parents and she shocked her head, she took a few steeps back.

Snow let out a whimper and covered her mouth with her hand. Tears were streaming down Snow and David faces.

Emma opened her eyes wide realizing what she had said to her parents. She gasped and brought her hand to her mouth. She wasn't supposed to say this to them. She turned around and ran out of the station.

 **Thank you so much for reading! As I've said before, this is my first fanfic so I never really expected to receive so many good feedback, so thank YOU! I think I only have a few chapters left for this story. I think they will be long as this one though.**

 **Please leave comments!**


	15. Chapter 15

**So as I promised this chapter will be long as well, and full of angst! Thank you everyone for your amazing reviews! They give me the encouragement to write more!**

 **Ok now I will answer some of the reviews so if you don't want to read this just scroll down and enjoy!**

 **Lillian: I can see that you like angst, as much I love writing it! I have to be honest I feel like I am some kind of a sadist too! Lol and thank you for your amazing reviews! They always make me smile.**

 **Aod4l: Yes they have 5 kids, three were their own and they adopted two. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. And no it's not bad that you are relishing Snow's pain, I am doing the same ;) and I totally adore her. Thank you for always leaving a comment!**

 **Araya: She wasn't cursed; she was just angry and sad. I just feel that she needed to get that out.**

 **Yazmin: She will apologize in latter chapters...I hope. ;) and thank you for reviewing every single chapter!**

 **Jcat30: Welcome to my little world of angst! I hope you like angst because there is so much more to come!**

 **Allywolf5: I have to be honest; you made me smile like and idiot when you said that this was your favorite story right now, so thank** ** _you!_**

 **Cristinetommy: Yes she will absolutely regret it. Thank you for your review!**

* * *

Emma ran out of the station and got into the sheriff's car. She turned the ignition on and drove off.

"We've lost her Snow. And there is nothing we can do now" David lamented as he hugged Snow

"No! I refuse to believe that!" Snow almost screamed "we have to go and find her, we have to talk to her"

"I don't think this is the best moment to talk to her. She is...she hates us Snow" David said in tears. His little girl hated him, and he couldn't blame her. She was right, he was supposed to protect her and care for her, but he didn't.

"Hey David, look at me" Snow said taking David's chin and making him look at her "she doesn't hates us, she is just...hurt? She needed to get all that out. She doesn't hate us" Snow told David. She had never seen her husband like that, he was usually the one that will stay strong, and now Snow needed to stay strong for the both of them, even though all she wanted to do was curled up and cry.

Emma drove around the town until she finally calmed down. What had she done? Did she just scream at her parents? She parked and turned the ignition off.  
"Fuck!" She said as she rested her head in the steering wheel. Her short temper had fucked her up again. She was sure that no matter how much someone loved you, if you said the things that she had said to her parents...they would stop loving you.

David and Mary Margaret went to pick up Neal at Ashley's house and they went back to the loft. Snow settled Neal at his crib and went to sit down next to her husband who was sitting at the sofa looking lost.

"David?" Snow whispered as she took his hands and sat at the coffee table. David didn't answer he was looking straight ahead "Charming please. We need to stay strong for Emma. I know it hurts, believe me I do. But we can't let ourselves break, not when our daughter still needs us"

"Didn't you heard what she said?" Charming said looking up at Snow "she said that she doesn't need us"

Snow saw her husband's defeated expression and her already hurt heart hurt more for her husband. "Charming, I think we need to give her some time to think, to calm down and then we will approach her again. Neal need us too David, believe me I want to curl down and cry but that won't solve anything." Snow said now that she had calmed down, her first instinct was to go and find their daughter but now she knew that Emma wouldn't want to talk to them...at least not right now.

"All I can see is my little girl watching the other girls with their fathers..." David said before he broke down completely. He had kept all the hurt bottle up for the last days. But hearing her little girl tell them how much she had suffered because of them was the last thing he could handle.

"Oh David" Snow said as he hugged him close to her. She was hurting too but now it was her turn to stay strong for the both of them, just as charming always stayed strong for her.

Emma walked into the station and saw the mug completely destroyed in the floor. She kneeled and picked up the pieces carefully. David had given her that mug when he accidentally dropped hers. She placed the pieces in her desk and she sat looking at the broken mug in front of her. She closed her eyes and did a movement with her hand and the mug was good as new. She took the mug in her hands and took a deep breath. If only relationships could fix with a flick of a hand. She had done the thing that she had been trying to avoid...she had hurt her parents. She flicked her hand again and the box appeared in front of her again. She opened it again and took all the things out. She gasped when she saw baby clothes in the bottom of the box. She saw an envelope that said "Swans" in the front. She took the envelope and sat down to read it. It was a letter from the Swans in which they apologized for giving her up. The letter also said that they kept some if their favorite clothes and Emma's favorite toys, and some videos of her when she was a baby.

She took an onesie and held it inn front of her; it said, "I'm my daddy's girl and my mommy's word". She felt tears in her eyes. She placed the onesie in the desk and looked at the two other onesies one of them said "I found my prince and his name is daddy" and the other one said "I love my mommy, she is my queen and I'm her little princess" Emma shocked her head, tears were already rolling down her checks. She looked at the box again and she gasped and placed her hands in her mouth. There was a rag doll of Snow White.

She took the doll out and brought it close to her. She collapsed to her chair hugging the doll close to her, and crying freely. She wanted to go and hug her parents but she couldn't, for some fucked up reason she still couldn't believe them; she couldn't forgive them. She wanted to talk to them and maybe forgive them but she needed to protect the scare little girl that still lived inside her, she needed to protect that child from any more heartache. She got up and packed everything in the box again, and with a flick of her hand the box was gone. She cleaned her tear strained checks and walked out the station to do another patrol around the town.

After what felt like hours David was finally able to control himself. "We don't have to pressure her anymore Snow" David said as he composed himself "I hate to say this, but we have to leave her alone. At least for a couple of days"

"I know, we need to give her some space and we have to look for prof" Snow agreed "I will talk to Regina tomorrow and we will see if she had found anything that could lead us to discover the truth" Snow said as she cleaned David's tears. She kissed him in the lips and she got up to check on Neal.

David felt as if the loft was closing on him, he got up and told Snow that he was going to go back to the station that he had things to do there.

"Are you sure that is the best idea?" Snow asked as he picked up Neal to feed him "Emma might be there and..."

"Is not like she is going to talk to me. I just need to finish some stuff, so I could stay tomorrow with you and look for prof" David explained.

"Ok, go ahead" Snow said.

David walked out of the loft and headed to the pier. He needed fresh air, he needed to think. He sat at a bench and looked out to the sea. When were they going to catch a break and have a nice time as a family? He felt as if a force was always making them go their own different ways. He took a deep breath and headed to the sheriff station.

Emma did another patrol around the town, she found driving relaxing. She walked in to the sheriff's station and sat down at her chair and placed her legs at the desk. She really needed a break from today. Just in that moment her phone rang and a picture of Angelica appeared in the screen. Emma smiled and answered "Hello"

"Hey Emma! Do you miss me?" Angelica said.

"Sorry who is this?" Emma joked.

"Oh...that was cold"

Emma let out a laugh "just kidding, are you guys already in New York!?"

"No, we still have like two more hours to go. I just wanted to know if you had opened the box"

"Oh I did. I haven't watched the videos but I will"

"I am sure you will watch them while hiding under the bed or something"

"Hey!... But yes I will do that. I just don't know how I feel about people watching me sing"

"Oh but you have an amazing voice! And you looked really cute singing...didn't she looked cute singing Leonardo?...oh yes she did!" Emma heard Leo say that last thing.

Emma smiled "I haven't sing in ages"

"Music heals the soul, you know that. So sing like nobody is hearing! Come on let's sing together!"

"No! Oh good no! You are embarrassing me!" Emma joked,

"That's what I am here for! Come on let's sing baby got back" Angelica teased Emma "I like big butts and I can't not lie, you other brothers cant deny..."

Emma began laughing historically and almost fell from the chair.

David walked in and saw his daughter laughing on the phone. He looked at her for a second, she looked as if nothing had happened just hours before, as if she didn't care about what she had said to them.

"Stop it, stop it please Angelica" Emma said as she composed herself. Listening to Angelica sing that type of music was one of the funniest things she had ever heard. "God that was amazing. Oh I really needed to laugh...I already miss you guys"

David lowered his head and headed to his desk. He was sure that Emma hadn't noticed him come in. He sat down and began working on some paperwork that he had to do.

"We miss you too Emma, but don't worry you have your friends there, you can sing baby got back with them"

Emma laughed just thinking of Regina or Belle singing that type of songs. She could actually picture Ruby singing that. "Yeah but it's not the same. Thank you by the way. I still can't believe that you guys found all those things from my past. I mean the art work and the pictures and the videos...what impressed me the most was that the Swans actually kept things from me when I was a baby"

David heard that and his heart stopped.

"Emma, you have touched the lives of so many people. The people who saved those things save them because you touched their heart from one way or another. You are a really special person Emma, don't you forget that"

Emma smiled and said "Thank you, you two are really special to me too"

After some more talking Emma and Angelica said their goodbyes promising that they will call each other constantly. Emma hanged up the phone and walked out of her office to get some water.

"Shit!" She screamed as she jumped when she saw David sitting at his desk. When had he come in? She looked at David and their eyes locked for a second. Emma lowered her head and walked to the water fountain "sorry deputy, I wasn't expecting to see you here"

"Don't worry Sheriff" David said.

Emma took a glass of water and turned around to look at David again. "How long have you been here?" Emma asked

"Like fifteen minutes, why?"

"Shit, he heard everything," Emma thought

"Oh no just asking" Emma answered. She noticed that her Dad had that same look he had when he first meet him as David Nolan "ummm if you want you can leave early today, there isn't much to do around her anyways. I am sure your wife and your son will appreciate that" Emma said in an even tone.

"Thank you for your offer, but I will stay and finish some paperwork first" David said as he looked down at his paperwork. How could he looked at his baby girl when he was one of the reasons for all the pain that she had gone trough "I have the day off tomorrow, so I better finish this today"

Emma noticed that her father wasn't making eye contact with her. "I am sorry Daddy," the little girl inside her said.

"Oh yeah, sorry forgot that you had the day off tomorrow. I am sure you will expend it with your family, right?" Emma said in an accusatory tone. What the fuck was wrong with her? Why was she acting like a brat?

David took a deep breath; he really didn't have the energy to fight with her daughter again.

"Umm I will leave you to do your stuff deputy" Emma said awkwardly as she walked back to her office.

Snow feed Neal and sang to him as she placed him to sleep again. While she was singing to him, she could almost picture herself in Emma's nursery singing to her, cradling her little baby girl in her arms. She placed Neal in his bed once he was finally asleep. She took a deep breath and walked up to what was Emma's room. She sat in the corner of the bed and brought Emma's pillow to her chest. She began to sob and cry as she hugged the pillow closer, whishing it was her daughter. Snow didn't know for how long she cried but when she finally controlled herself she knew that she needed someone...she needed her friend Red with her.

Snow took out her phone and texted Red.

-Could you please come to my house? I need you. Use your Key.

Snow hesitated to press the send button. She hadn't talked to Red in what felt like a lifetime, and she was sure that Red also blamed her for what she said to Emma. She finally pressed send and she waited.

Red was attending some clients when she received Snow's message. She read it and walked up to Granny.

"I need to go" Red told Granny as she took her apron off.

"Wait, why?" Granny asked surprised.

"Snow, she texted me and told me that she wants to talk to me. I already called Belle and she will come help you"

"Wait, is everything ok?" Granny asked.

"I don't know...I have to go" Red said as she almost ran out of the restaurant.

Red didn't know how to feel about this. She walked up to Snow's apartment and used her key to open it. She walked in and saw that Snow was nowhere to be found. She went and checked on Neal who was happily sleeping. She walked up to Emma's room and saw Snow sitting at the bed playing with her weeding ring. Red let out a breath. Snow was fine; everything was fine. She shouldn't added that on the text.

"What do you need Mary Margaret?" Red asked in a harsher tone that she intended.  
Snow looked up at Red and she closed her eyes in a pained way while shocking her head. "Not you too Red, please..."

"Snow?" Red whispered getting closer to Snow. She kicked herself for calling Snow by her coursed name. "Frosty?" She said as she sat in the bed next to Snow and brought her close to her hugging her tight. Snow wrapped her hands around Red and continued crying.

"Frosty what happened?" Red asked as she stroke Snow's hair.

"I can't do this anymore Red" Snow sobbed. Red had never seen Snow so broken and without hope like that. She hugged her closer and said, "It is about Emma right?" Snow nodded.

Red let out a breath and said "Snow is obvious that she is upset, you and charming said really harsh things to her..."

"It wasn't us Red" Snow said trough her sobbing. She explained to Red how everything happened and how Regina was helping them to get prof to Emma.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Red asked a little hurt.

"You weren't talking to me. You were giving me the cold shoulder and I couldn't deal with you hatting me too. I just...I just felt so alone" Snow said.

Red was running her hand up and down Snow's back trying to console her. "Snow, you were there for me when nobody else was. You gave me hope. Because of you I am alive today, so please don't ever keep something like this from me. I want to help you, I want to be there for you"

Snow snuggled closer to Red "She hates us Red. And I cannot blame her; because of us she lived a living hell during her childhood. I swear Red if I hadn't Neal with me I would probably..."

"Hey!" Red said taking Snow's chin and making her look at her "don't you fucking dare even think about that ok?! I need you, I need my friend with me damn it! Yes, I know it must hurt like hell but Emma needs you, David and Neal need you, Henry needs you...I need you!"

Snow gave Red a little smiled and said "Emma doesn't need us, she doesn't need _ME_ "

"She does need you Frosty" Red whispered to Snow "I know her and I know she still needs her parents"

Snow let out a bitter laugh and told Red what Emma had told her that morning. Red's heart broke for both his friends.

"Snow she was just upset"

"No Red. What she said was true. I told charming to put her trough that wardrobe, I caused her all that pain"

"Snow White!" Red said raising her tone "the only thing you did was protect your daughter from an inevitable death. So stop blaming yourself for all the things that happened to Emma. Yes, her childhood was rough but she has to know that you only put her trough that wardrobe to save her" Red was now getting a little mad with Emma. Yes, she understood where all her frustration was coming from, but lashing out at her parents like that, without even giving them the chance to talk to her was just unfair.

Snow shook her head "I am so tired of everything Red. Since my mother died I haven't catch a break. It seems as if I am destined to live like this...always looking and searching for something unreachable"

"Oh Frosty" Red said "I will help you, I will help you get your daughter back"

"What if it's to late?" Snow asked looking up at Red.

"It's not," Red said giving Snow a reassuring smile "I promise you that everything is going to turn out just fine. Now...I can see that you haven't slept in days so let's go back down so you can take a little nap. What do you say?"

"I am not a child Red, I don't need a nap"

Red raised her eyebrow and looked down at Snow who was still hugging her "Let me rephrase that. Get your ass to bed and sleep or I will go all wolfy on you"

Snow looked up and smiled at Red "ok mother" she said sarcastically.

Red helped Snow settle in the bed and waited in her side until her friend fell asleep. Red checked on Neal and he continued sleeping like a little angel. She walked to kitchen and looked trough the cabinets until she found a bottle of wine. She knew it was Emma's. She served herself a glass of wine and sat at the couch. She had mixed emotions about this entire situation a part of her felt bad for Emma; this new course had affected her like no other, but at the same time she was upset that Emma told all those things to Snow and David. She knew Emma had suffered in her life, but Snow and David had suffered too. She needed to talk to Emma; she needed to help her see that she wasn't the only one who had suffered. She finished her glass of wine and went to the sink to clean the evidence. Just as she was putting the cup back she heard the front door open.

"Red?" David said as he got into the loft "what are you doing here?"

"Helping some old friends" Red said giving David a warm smile.

David walked to the kitchen island and sat on one of the high chairs "thank you for being here for Snow" David said sincerely.

Red walked around the island and sat next to him. She took on of his hands and gave it a little squish "I am here for both my friends. That includes you too David. After all we've been trough do you really think that I will only be here for Snow?" David didn't answered he just looked down "David, I know that lately we haven't really been there for each other, gosh we haven't even talked for the last month or so. But I want you to know that I believe you and that I will help you both get Emma back. You two were there for me in thick and thin, and I will be here for you too. You are like my brother David, and I appreciate you as much as I appreciate Snow"

David looked up to Red and smiled "I've missed you Red"

"I've missed you more David" Red said as he moved closer to hug him "I know this whole situation with Emma sucks, but we will find a way to get her back to you guys. I will help you get your family back together"

David hugged Red tight "Thanks Red, thank you for always being there"

"Now, are you hungry?" Red asked David with a little smile.

"No...why?

"I can see that you and Snow haven't sleep in days so why don't you head out to bed right now? So you can get your beauty sleep...you really need it" Red joked.

David smiled, his true smiled in what seemed like ages "I will stay awake in case Neal wakes up"

"Don't you worry about Neal, I will watch him. Now go to sleep like your lovely wife did"

"Alright then...thank you Red" David said as he walked to his bed. He had to be honest he was exhausted. He lay next to Snow and in mere minutes he was asleep.

Red sat at the couch again and was about to text Emma, but she knew that she should talk to her in person. Red stayed the night at the charming household for that night, taking care of Snow, David and Neal.

* * *

"Sorry mom but I have to say that Killian is a better cook than you" Henry said as he ate the diner that Killian had prepared.

Killian gave Henry a grateful smile and a smirk to Emma.

"Go live with him if you love his cooking so much!" Emma joked pretending to be hurt.

"We already live together love" Killian said "I honestly can't believe how you guys survived for a year with Emma cooking"

Henry laughed "there were a lot of fast food and take outs"

"Thank good we have two spare rooms in the house if not someone would've slept in the couch" Emma said giving Killian THE look.

"Oh mom! Don't punish him for being a better cook than you"

"You are not making this easy mate" Killian told Henry

"I don't know if you guys know but I am the only one in this house that has magic, therefore I can turn you both into talking Chihuahuas if you don't stop making fun of my cooking skills"

Henry and Killian looked at each other with wide eyes and then began eating again.

"Have you noticed how green mom's eyes are Killian? They are the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen" Henry said giving her mother a dashing smile.

"Oh I have. And her hair always looks so beautiful too" Killian said winking at Henry.

Emma laughed and gave each of her men a little nod of appreciation "That's better"

At night

"I lashed out on David and Snow today" Emma blurted out as she laid in bed "I was reading some really sad things that I wrote in my journal when I was a kid and then they walked in trying to be all parent and I completely lashed out on them"

"What did you tell them?" Killian asked

"Everything? I completely lost it. I basically blamed them for everything that happened to me when I was a kid. And I told them that I didn't need them anymore and that I never loved them and that I never will"

"Wow love. I have to be truthful, that was really harsh...did you mean it? All of it?"

"At that moment I did"

"What about now?"

"I don't know. They also told me that it hurt to see me with Angelica and Leonardo, that it hurt to see what they never had" Emma continued by telling him the whole story including what happened with David later that morning.

"What if they were indeed coursed?" Killian asked

Emma let out a humorless laugh "Do you really believe that? Nobody in storybook has magic, specially not that type of magic"

* * *

"Oh there she is, my sleeping beauty" Red said as she saw Snow walked in the kitchen. Red had woken up early to make their friends some breakfast.

Snow smiled at Red and walked up to her to give her a hug "I don't know what I would've done without you Red. I love you"

"I love you more Frosty" Red said hugging her best friend.

"I left you guys some breakfast ready. I have to go do something first" Red told Snow.

"Why don't you stay and have breakfast with us?"

"I really can't. I have something important to do and it can't wait. Why don't we meet for lunch so we can talk to Regina and Belle to see if they have found anything"

"Sounds good to me. Thank you again Red"

"That's what friends are for Frosty" Red said before leaving the apartment.

* * *

Emma walked into the station and prepared her morning coffee. She hadn't sleep much last night. Every time she closed her eyes she could hear her mother's cry and their sad destroyed faces. She shocked her head as if to remove those images from her head. She sat down and finished her coffee in silence.

Red walked into the sheriff station deciding that she was going to be super honest with Emma.

"Emma?" Red said

"Oh, hey Red. Is everything ok?" Emma asked as she looked up to see Red.

"Yes and No"

"What do you mean?" Emma asked confused.

"I mean that there is no danger or wicket witches or ice ladies, but..." Red hesitated, she really didn't know how to start the conversation "I was at your parents house"

Emma let out a sigh "Do you mean Ms. Blanchard and Mr. Nolan?"

"No Emma" Red said getting a little exasperated "I mean Snow and David. Your parents"

"Just tell me what you want"

"Emma I understand that you are hurt and mad at your parents, but that doesn't give you the right or the authority to talk to them the way you did last morning"

"The way I talk to them is none of your business Red. You don't know what I went trough...you don't know me so don't judge me" Emma said getting a little defensive

"You are wrong Emma. It is my business because they are my friends and I don't like to see them hurt" Red said taking a deep breath "I am sorry for what you had to go trough Emma. And I assure you that your parents would give up anything to..."

"They are not my parents!" Emma said slamming her hands in the desk "and if you love them so much go ahead and be with them and leave me the hell alone"

"No Emma. They ARE your parents like it or not..."

"They are nothing more than selfish people who only care about themselves. I don't even know why are we even having this conversation. If they don't like to hear the truth then I am sorry but I was dying to tell them everything. I don't regret it"

"Emma I know that you had all that anger bottled up inside you but maybe you took it out in the wrong people. I think that you were more upset of what your other foster parents did to you..."

"You don't know me Red! You don't know what I went trough so please just shut up!" Emma said as she got furiously from the chair "you fairy tale people are so selfish! This is the real world not some fairy tale land shit where everyone is happy and..."

"Do you really think that you are the only one who has suffered!? Who is the selfish one now? No Emma, you are not the only one who has lived a shitty life. You have literally been to my world more than once. You have seen that it's not filled with rainbows and unicorns as those people from Disney picture it"

"Did you grow up alone Red!? Did you cry yourself to sleep wanting your mother to come and save you!? Do you know how it feels when people tell you that you are not good enough?! No, right?! So don't you dare come here and try to give me a lecture about what I know and what I don't know"

"No Emma I might not know how that feels but I can tell you who can understand what it feels to cry themselves to sleep because they want their mom. Your mother. Snow lost her mother when she was only a little girl. Why do you think she doesn't celebrate her birthday? Her mother died the day of her birthday and instead of a party she had to attend her mother's funeral. Her mother literally died in her arms"

Emma took a steep back, this was the first time she had heard about this.

"I might not know how it feels to grow up without the love of a mother, because thank good I had granny. But your mother knows how that feels"

"She had her father" Emma whispered

"Who was killed just as her mother, then she had to basically ran away alone from her own home. She was alone and scared in the woods. When I first meet her she was stealing eggs because she was hungry. She had to live a life where she couldn't trust anybody; she had to live alone and scared for a long time. I think you can relate to that. And to answer your other question. You know who knows how it feels to been told that they are not good enough? Your Dad. He was a shepherd whose father died when he was really young so he had to grow up early in order to save and keep their farm. He was poor Emma, he knows how it feels when people see you as if you were nothing more than an animal"

"At least he had a mother..."

"A mother who was killed by king George. A mother who literally died in his arms too. Emma your parents have suffered a lot too, but you know what had hurt them the most?" Emma didn't answered; she was looking down at the floor "they lost their opportunity of parenthood with you. They lost all your first"

"They put me in the wardrobe!" Emma snapped.

"They put you in that wardrobe because they loved you Emma! Regina's man would've killed you, and you know that! They sacrificed everything for you! They sacrificed their chance to watch you grow up. You should understand that more than anybody"

"Oh no, don't you dare bring Henry into this mess"

"You meet him when he was a kid Emma. He still needed you; you could still see some milestones in his life. They didn't Emma and that kills them everyday"

"They have Neal now. They told me that they don't want me; well I don't need them nor want them either. So by all means go and tell them that I said that!"

"You don't mean that. You know that and I know that. Answer me one thing, do you regret giving Henry up? Do you hurt when you realize that you didn't see him grow up for ten years" Emma didn't answered again "imagine how your parents feel about missing twenty nine years of your life? If you have another child, would that change how you feel about not being there with Henry since the beginning? Emma your parents love you, and they would do anything for you...you know what was one of the last things I remember before the curse hit? I remember your mother's pained sobs and screams when your father took you to the wardrobe. I have never in my life heard someone agonize like that and I am a wolf who had killed people. It was a scream as if someone was taking the life and light away from her, and that was exactly what happened. They took _YOU_ away from her, you were and you _ARE_ her life Emma. Those two people who you refuse to call parents see you as their life, their little girl, their hope"

By the time Red was fished Emma was breathing rapidly trying not to cry "I can't love them again. I can't let them in again"

Red took a deep breath and shook her head. "You have seen your mother die Emma and if you don't talk to her, if you don't give her the chance to talk to you, she will be dead inside, your father too. Don't do this to them Emma. Don't do this to Neal, but more importantly, don't do this to yourself. One day you might regret not giving them at least the chance to explain themselves" Red fished and turned around getting out of the sheriff's office.

Emma collapsed back to her chair and began to cry.

* * *

"I can't believe I am having breakfast with a thief and a pirate" Regina sad as she sat down in the booth "me, a queen having breakfast with the peasants "

Henry and Roland laughed knowing that Regina was kidding.

"Come on mom! We royals shall treat the lest fortune people good" Henry said using his best prince voice.

Killian who was sitting next to Henry playfully hit him in the ribs with his elbow.

"I'm just kidding!" Henry said "no but seriously I am really happy that we are finally a big happy family"

"I like having a big family too!" Roland said with a big smile. Roland was sitting between Regina and Robin.

They heard the door open and Red walked in. Regina noticed that she had a distracted and almost sad face. She excused herself and walked towards Red.  
"Is everything ok?" Regina asked Red.

"No, I just came from Emma's office...I completely lost it in there" Red explained. She told Regina what had happened the day before, starting with Snow sending her a text.

"This keeps getting worse" Regina said "how is Snow and David?"

"I have never seen them like that"

"What about Emma?"

"She told me to tell them that she doesn't want them, that she can't forgive them nor let them in again"

"I understand where Emma is coming from I really do, but as a parent who has made mistakes...I just can't imagine the pain that Snow and David are going trough right now"

Red nodded "thank you by the way, thank you for helping them...you have really truly changed"

"Oh well thank you for notice it" Regina said sarcastically with a little smile.

* * *

"How did Red ended up here yesterday?" David asked Snow who was cleaning the kitchen.

"I texted her"

"Oh I see" David said as he bounced Neal "I am glad she is helping us"

"I know me too. I really missed her," Snow said as she carried a chair so she could stand on it to reach the high shelf.

"Be careful there" David said as Snow got up in the chair "why don't you get Neal and I do that? If you fall you could really hurt yourself"

"I won't hurt myself I am capable of..." she couldn't stop her sentence. There was a big cracking sound and the ground started to move violently throwing Snow down to the floor.

"Snow!" David screamed in fear as he felt the ground move.

* * *

"We need to help them get their daughter..." Red couldn't finish her sentence the ground started to shake up and down and left to right. She opened her arms wide trying to balance herself but the shaking was too hard that she couldn't stand by herself. The windows started to crack and the lights that were hanging in the ceiling moved violently. Regina took Red's hand and brought her down so she could be protected under the table.

Emma had finally stopped crying when she felt the ground shake violently like she hadn't experience before. She immediately went under the desk and braced herself as the ground kept moving throwing the shelves and the computer to the floor.

After what felt like hours but it was only seconds the ground stopped moving. Emma got out of under the desk and climbed over the fallen shelves and ran outside towards Granny's where she knew Henry and the others were. In her way she saw the damage that the earthquake had left behind. Windows were completely shattered; light posts were on the ground. She walked passed a house that was on fire, she immediately ran towards that house, she saw that the family was safe and that nobody else was inside the house. She began to ran towards Granny's while she used her walkie talkie to inform the fire department of the house that was on fire.

She ran as fast as her legs could go. She saw Granny's and was relieved when she saw all her friends and Hook and Henry walked out of Granny's. They looked surprised and disoriented. Emma looked towards her parents loft and she saw smoke and flames.

"No, no no please no" Emma whispered as she ran towards the loft. While she was running all she could hear were Red's words _"One day you might regret not giving them at least the chance to explain themselves"_. Emma knew that her parents were at their house when the earthquake hit. She almost felt to the floor when she saw that the roof of the apartment building was completely on top of her parents loft. She wanted to run towards the burning building but just as she was about to run an explosion made the building completely collapse. She felt her heart constrict, suddenly the air was too thick and she couldn't breath. She saw the first place that she considered home completely collapse in front of her. Her parents and little brother were in that building, she knew it!

"No! Grandma! Grandpa!" Emma heard Henry screamed behind her.

 **Please leave reviews! And thank you for liking this story!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the late update and for the cruel cliffhanger! Just another thing that I wanted to share to you guys is that this entire fanfic came to life thanks to a song called "What hurts the most" by Rascal Flatts and thank good there is this video on YouTube called "What Hurts the Most- Emma and Snow" (I wish it was a Snow/Emma/David video but is not) Anyways back to the story...**

Emma shook her head. This couldn't end like this; she had to save her little brother and her parents. She ran to the burning building then she felt two strong hands holding her by the waist. "Let me go! Let me fucking go!" Emma struggled and tried to push herself away from whoever was holding her back "My little brother is in there! Let me go! Neal!"

"Emma Neal is fine" she heard her father say, "you save him, Neal is ok Emma"

Emma let out a long breath that she didn't know she was holding. She turned around and saw David. He was alive her father was alive. Emma hugged her father.

"Mom!" She heard Henry called her. She ran towards him and he ran towards her "why were you going to run into a burning building!?"

Emma hugged Henry close "I thought Neal was there. Oh Henry I am so happy you are ok"

"Love, what the hell were you thinking?!" Killian said as he hugged both Emma and Henry "If David hadn't been fast enough..." Killian couldn't finish that sentence, when he saw Emma ran towards an inevitable death he felt a fear that he had never felt before. Killian hugged Emma and Henry closer and gave Emma a kiss in the cheek "don't you ever do that to me again Emma Swan!"

"What the hell were you thinking Emma!?" Emma heard Regina said.

"I tough Neal was there!" Emma defended herself as she let go of Henry and Hook "where is he? Is he ok?"

"Yes, he is ok" Emma heard her mother say behind her. Emma closed her eyes; she thought that she wasn't going to hear that voice again. She turned around and saw that Snow had Neal in her arms.

Neal began bubbling and moving his little hands towards Emma. "I thought I've lost you squirrel," Emma said as she took Neal from her mother and hugged him tight. Neal rested his head in Emma's shoulder. Emma finally let a tear fall when she felt her little brother resting his head on her. "I love you Neal" Emma said and kissed Neal's check.

Snow and David watched the little scene with tears in their eyes.

"We have to see if everyone is ok, we have to save people, we have to..." Emma began to say in a rush.

"Calm down Emma, nobody is hurt" Killian told Emma.

"What do you mean nobody is hurt? This was a major earthquake!"

"You saves us all mom!" Henry told Emma

"Wait what?"

"When the earthquake started, what were you thinking?" Regina asked,

"I just wanted everyone to be safe"

"Well you put some kind of force around all of us" Henry explained "once the earthquake started a orb or something like that surrounded all of us"

Emma was so confused right now "wait how do you know it was me?"

"Because we could feel it" Regina said "I have never seen something like that. We could feel your essence surrounding us"

"Wow! Ok that sounded so creepy" Emma laughed nervously. "I don't even know if it was me"

"It was you Emma. It was light magic. You saved us all" Regina said as she smiled at Emma "only the purest magic of all could do that"

"I don't know what to say" Emma said as she bounced Neal.

"You saved all of us Emma, you saved us again" Snow said looking at Emma with a proud expression.

Emma looked at her mother and for a second it felt as if nothing had happened between mother and daughter. Snow walked towards Emma but Emma took a step back.

"Umm, we need to check the properties and see if they are in a god conditions for the families" Emma said as she gave a shocked Snow Neal "take care of him" Emma told Snow

"Emma?" Red asked as she approached Emma

Emma looked at Red "Not now Ruby"

"Me and Killian will go talk to the dwarfs so they could check if the houses are safe for people to go inside them again. Regina and Robin you guys check if the electricity is back on"

"I will get Pinocchio to help me accommodate the people whose houses were damaged in other places. Maybe Granny's?"

"Great we will tell the dwarfs to check Granny's inn first." Emma said "Deputy why don't you come with me and Killian, we will divide so we could do this faster"

"I can help with that too" Red said

"Great" Emma said without looking at Red "you can go with David"

"You can come and help me Mary Margaret " Henry told Snow with a little smile.

"Let's go" Emma told Killian "I will text you who needs new accommodations Henry"

"What the hell was that Emma?" Regina asked as they walked towards the center of the town.

"I thought Neal was there! That's why I run to the house..."

"No, not that. You thought your parents were dead and when you saw that they weren't you acted so cold towards them. You are acting like a brat"

"I was worried about Neal" Emma told to Regina.

"You didn't even asked if they were ok! What if they would've died?"

Emma didn't say anything she continued walking as if she hadn't heard Regina.

"Ugh!" Regina signed in frustration "you are more stubborn than your mother!" Regina said remembering how stubborn little Snow was.

"Let's go Killian we need to get this sorted out," Emma said as she pulled Killian.

"Frosty, are you ok?" Red asked Snow.

Snow closed her eyes and shook her head "she didn't care about whether we were dead or alive..."

"I am sorry Snow" Red said as she hugged her friend.

Henry stood there awkwardly. When he first saw the loft on fire he thought that her mother hadn't put a protection spell on his grandparents due to the circumstances, but when he saw them standing in the sidewalk he felt relief, as if life was giving him a second chance.

Henry walked up to David who was standing there looking sad. "Grandpa?" Henry whispered as he got closer to David and hugged him close "I thought I've lost you"

David got out of his own little world and hugged Henry tight. He had missed this; he had missed his grandson.

Snow and Red watched the little scene and they both gave them a little sad smile. "Everything is going to be ok" Red told Snow "We will meet you guys at Granny's"

Red and David went to help Emma and Killian. Henry walked up to Snow and gave her a hug "Let's go do this Princess" He said jokingly "I always wanted to say that"

Snow gave Henry a little smile and they both walked to Granny's.

Emma and Killian walked to every house and talked to everyone to see if they needed anything. Everyone was thanking Emma for saving their lives again. At first it was a little awkward then touching but by the middle of the day Emma was almost annoyed listening to everyone thanking her and telling her how they would've died if it weren't for her. Killian would only smirk at Emma every time someone would stop them to thank Emma.

"I think we should do like a parade where you stand in David's truck waving at everybody. And everybody would cheer your name..."

"Don't even joke about that! That will be so embarrassing. You know what...because of that you will finish this while I go to the sheriff station to connect the incoming calls to my cell phone"

"Bloody hell! I will keep my mouth shut next time"

* * *

Emma walked into the sheriff's station and saw all the mess that the earthquake had caused. She could still see Mary Margaret's apartment on fire. That placed held so many memories; in that place she met her best friend, her mother. Emma closed her eyes remembering the sad face of her mother when she took a steep back from her, Emma was sure that Snow wanted to hug her. Emma kicked the already broken computer. She thought that her parents had died, but when she saw them she didn't even asked if they were ok.

"Fuck!" Emma screamed as she kicked the computer again. How fucked up was she that she couldn't even hug her parents? How selfish was she to still keep a grudge on them knowing that they had suffered just as much as her? Emma let out a few tears fall, she had wanted to hug her parents to tell them that she loves them, but she couldn't, she couldn't let her walls down again. She thought that she had been hurt before, but nobody has left her this sore, she felt like she wasn't herself, she was the angry and resentful person she was years ago.

"Emma?" She heard David say behind her.

Emma didn't turn around she knew that she had puffy red eyes by now. "I am going to check if the phone line is on, so we could receive the calls on our cell phones" Emma said in a shaky voice.

David heard her daughter's shaky voice and worried about her "Emma are you ok?"

Emma climbed trough the fallen shelves and got to the phone that was still intact. Emma didn't answered; she knew that if she talked her voice was going to sound shaky again. She took a deep breath and noodled.

David didn't believed Emma but he knew that he shouldn't pressure her. "Alright, the others are at Granny's and I believe we have re-located those whose houses were damaged. The dwarfs will start repairing them first thing tomorrow"

Emma connected the sheriff's phone calls to transfer to their cell phones. She finally controlled herself and turned to look at David "Thank you"

David gave Emma a small smile "I guess we are going to have to file all that paperwork again" David said as he looked at the mess around him.

"Oh hell no! I haven't even thought about that!" Emma groaned as she walked next to David.

David had to hide a smile, Emma had sounded like a teenager. Emma looked at David and gave him a mischievous smile. David raised his eyebrow, he knew that smile and it usually meant trouble. Emma closed her eyes and moved her hand around. The papers and the shelves began to accommodate themselves. David opened his mouth in amazement. In mere seconds the office looked as if nothing had happened. All of a sudden Emma felt dizzy and took David's arm to keep herself standing.

"Emma!" David said alarmed as he held her daughter by the elbows. "Emma are you ok?!"

"Yeah, yes I am" Emma said as she composed herself "I have to get use to this magic thing"

"You shouldn't use anymore magic, you have used enough for one day" David said as he held Emma by the shoulders and looked at her in the eye "I don't want you to hurt yourself"

Emma looked up at his father and saw the concern and the love in his eyes. She gave him a shy smile "it was worth it, we won't have to organize all the paperwork again" She moved away from his grasp and walked towards her desk "I told someone that I was going to call them so I will see you at Granny's in a little bit"

"Are you sure you are ok? If I leave you alone after you almost fainted your mother might kill me and I don't want..." David stopped talking realizing what he had said. He wasn't supposed to talk to Emma about _that_.

Emma froze in her seat when she heard her father say the "mom" word. David noticed it and immediately said "Sorry sheriff"

Emma took a deep breath and looked up at him. He almost looked scared waiting for Emma's reaction. Emma's heart hurt knowing that now her parents felt like walking on eggshells around her. They were probably worried that she would lash out on them again. Emma stood up and took the car's keys and threw them to David "ok you drive wile I talk on the phone"

David smiled relieved knowing that this was a little bit of progress. Emma got into the passenger sit and called Angelica. David began to drive knowing who Emma was calling.

"Angelica? Yes, I just finished doing all the sheriff stuff. How are you guys? Emma said in the phone

"Oh we are ok, everyone is alive but that was so scary. Was the town damaged?" David heard Angelica said, for some reason he could hear everything Angelica was saying thanks to his Sheppard hearing.

"Only a few houses were damaged and two actually burned down. We were lucky I checked and other places were hit hard"

"The good thing is that you and your family and friends are ok"

"Yes, we all are fine. I am so happy you guys are ok too. It would've been awful if I lost you guys just as I got you back" Emma laughed without realizing that that was exactly what her parents have been trough a lot of times.

"You will never lose us again Emma. Sorry but you are stuck with us. But I have to be honest I will probably kill Leonardo in his sleep tonight"

"Wait! Why?!" Emma laughed

"So, I have this amazing glass Disney figure collection and I have them in different places of the house. And someone hung their stupid autographed baseball bat on top of my Snow White collection and it fell and broke everything!"

"You have a Snow White collection?" Emma asked incredulously.

"Yes! I loved it! And don't use that tone with me, I know you loved Snow White when you were a baby so...don't judge me!" Angelica laughed

David immediately looked at Emma. Emma opened her eyes wide and looked to her right, avoiding David's gaze.

"You are silently judging me right? Anyways all the dwarfs were completely destroyed and Snow White was decapitated, and her arm is completely destroyed too and.."

"Ok, I get it" Emma said nervously. She couldn't help but feel uneasy when she heard someone say that Snow White was decapitated "Don't hurt Leo though. Just get another collection"

"I'm going to have to go to Disneyland and get it. Do you want to go with me? So you could meet your favorite princess Snow White?" Angelica teased.

Emma turned tomato red "Just stop it, please" Emma knew that David had heard that and for some reabsorb she didn't want him to know that.

They continued talking for a little bit and they say their good byes. An awkward silence filled the car. David wanted to ask her daughter what that woman meant when she said that Snow White was Emma's favorite princess when she was a baby.

"David?" Emma finally broke the silent "did you hear the conversation?"

"Yes, I am sorry but it is almost impossible not no hear"

"Could you please don't repeat anything you heard?" Emma knew that this was asking too much of him. She knew that David and Snow told each other everything.

"Why?" David asked as he parked the car in front of Granny's. He looked at Emma.

"I don't want to sound rude but...it's my business and I just wouldn't like anyone to know" Emma said

David took a deep breath in "Ok" David whispered and got out of the car.

Emma felt bad for him but she didn't want her mother to ask her any questions.

* * *

Emma walked into Granny's and saw Snow, Charming and Hook sitting at a booth with Neal. Henry and Pinocchio were at another both and Regina and his family were talking with Belle, Red and Granny. Emma didn't know where to go she had to face her parents or Red.

Apparently Neal had seen her because he started to scream and move his arms and legs excitedly in Snow's arms. Emma smiled and walked towards him.

"Hey little squirrel!" Emma said as she took Neal from Snow's arms "I thought you will be sleeping"

"He just woke up" Snow said

Emma looked up at Snow and nodded.

"Ok everyone gather around" Regina commanded, everybody turned around and got closer to where Regina was.

"Ok so Sheriff, did you talked to everyone?"

"Yes, everyone is fine there were no injuries and only a house and an apartment building were completely destroyed, due to a fire" Emma said as she bounced Neal up and down.

"And we were able to re-locate everyone at Granny's while the dwarfs repair their homes" Henry said.

"Ok great then everything seems fine. Why don't we all go take a rest, it has been a long day for all of us" Regina said.

"I need to eat first! Gosh! I saved your asses again and I did all the sheriff stuff. Can't I at least get a grilled cheese or something?"

"Watch your language Emma. There are kids here, not to mention that you are holding one" Regina said

Henry and Pinocchio laughed and Emma winked at them.

"I will get you some food Emma" Granny said as she went into the kitchen.

"Thanks Granny!"

"So mom, we checked the house and everything is fine there" Henry said as he walked towards Emma "Have you talked to Angelica and Leo? Are they ok?"

"Oh yeah they are. They actually texted me as I was running from the station to Granny's" Emma told Henry as she walked to sit in front of the table were hook and his parents were.

"Oh thank god they are ok," Henry, said relieved "so how are you feeling?"

"What do you mean?"

"You used a lot of magic mom, aren't you tired?"

"Nah, I am ok" Emma lied. She was actually exhausted.

David looked at her and gave her an incredulous look. He had seen her almost faint. Emma decided to ignore her father's gaze and she continued to play with Neal who had his little hands on her checks squishing them together.

"Love? Apparently Neal stole you from me" Killian said smiling at the little scene in front of him

"He didn't steal me from you. You stole me from him" Emma corrected as he stroke Neal's check "Right little man?"

Neal made a groin sound "see he agrees"

"I think we should eat and head up to the room" Snow told David. As much as she loved seeing her daughter and son be together, she couldn't get passed how Emma took a step back when she was going to hug her that morning.

Emma brought Neal closer to her. She wasn't ready to say goodbye to him.

Red approached David and Snow with an apologetic expression "I am so sorry you guys but there are no more rooms available"

"What?" Snow said alarmed.

"Well...remember the family who lost their house in the fire? Well they actually took two rooms. One for the mother and the father and the other for the kids. I didn't have the heart to tell them no" Red explained.

"I am sorry" Henry said "we should've told you earlier but we forgot"

"Oh no don't worry is ok" Snow said, "umm we will find another place"

"You guys can stay with me and Granny. I can stay at the sofa and you guys can take my bed. I mean is the least I could do," Red said looking guilty.

Emma looked at her parents and she knew that she had to say something. She wasn't going to let her parents stay at someone else house when she had two rooms available at her house.

"No they are not staying at your house Red" Emma told Red seriously.

"Excuse me?" Red asked looking at Emma. There was still some tension between the two of them.

"You guys will stay at my house, I have two spare bedrooms" Emma said looking at her parents. Snow and David looked at each other and then at Emma.

"I don't think that's the best idea, we don't want to incommode you Emma" David said.

Emma knew that her parents didn't want her to feel uncomfortable. She took a deep breath "You won't...you don't. Do it for Neal"

"Are you sure?" Snow asked

Emma gave Snow a sincere smile "yes, I am sure"

"Thank you" Snow said touched

Red winked at Henry and he smiled at her. Nobody else saw this little exchange.

"My mother still has my crib and my stroller and some of my baby toys and clothes. You guys could use it" Henry said smiling at her grandparents.

"That's a great idea Henry!" Emma smiled "why don't you go tell her to puff the stuff at the guest room at our house and once we get there we could get everything settled"

"We will buy you some new clothes tomorrow" Emma said as she looked at Neal "I will get you a red jacket so you could be like me"

"I have to admit it, I am jealous right now" Killian joked.

Emma looked up at Killian and said, "Sorry who are you?" She joked.

Emma and the others had dinner at Granny's. Emma had to eat with one hand because Neal wouldn't let anybody else hold him. He would scream and throw kicks if someone tried to take him away from Emma.

Snow and David were so confused, they didn't know if living with their daughter will help or hurt their already messed up relationship.

"So me grandpa and Killian will ride in the sheriffs car, and you and grandma can go in your car mom" Henry said as they got out of the dinner

"Snow and David can take the sheriff's car and we go in my car" Emma said "That's more convenient"

"No is not" Henry argued back "Neal won't let you drive so either grams or gramps will have to go with you in your car so they could drive it"

Emma let out a breath "Ok we will do it your way"

"Yey! Henry one mom zero!" Henry joked

Emma gave Henry her mom look "Remember Henry...talking Chihuahua?"

"You are so smart mom!" Henry complemented her mother with a little smile.

"That's better" Emma smiled as she gave Snow the keys.

Snow and David looked at each other confused. "I will explain it to you in the car gramps"

Snow got in the car and Emma sat at the passenger sit with Neal in her lap. "Should we get the car seat from my car first?" Snow asked

Emma flipped her hand and the car seat appeared in the back of the car. "Oh, well magic does come in handy" Snow said

"Yes it does" Emma said as she placed Neal in the chair "it appears that Neal will stay there, why don't I drive?"

"Ok" Snow said as she got out of the driver sit.

Emma settled between the wheal and began to drive towards her house. There was an awkward silence. "I will put some music,"

"Ok" Snow answered, she didn't know how to approach her daughter fearing that she could say the wrong thing.

Emma turned the stereo on and the song Apologize by One Replubic started playing.

 _That it's too late to apologize._  
 _It's too late._  
 _I said it's too late to apologize._  
 _It's too late._  
 _Too late, oh uh_

Emma couldn't believe her luck why did that song had to come up first? Snow moved uncomfortably in the seat.

Emma let out a little laugh, she had to be honest fate was a bitch "I am sorry" she apologized as she continued laughing at this awkward situation. Neal began clapping. Snow placed her hands in her lap and began to play with her weeding ring. Emma felt bad for laughing, not everyone had her dark humor. She decided to make it up to her mother, she new the next lyrics and she said, "I really like this next part"

 _I'd take another chance,_  
 _Take a fall, take a shot for you._  
 _I need you like a heart needs a beat,_  
 _But it's nothin' new, yeah!_  
 _I loved you with a fire red,_  
 _Now it's turnin' blue._  
 _And you say._  
 _Sorry, like an angel_  
 _Heaven let me think was you._  
 _But I'm afraid._

Snow listened to the lyrics and turned to see her daughter, Emma gave her a little smile that meant the world to Snow. Emma decided to turn off the stereo off.

Emma guided Snow to the guest room where they were going to stay. Henry was at the front porch apparently having a serious conversation with David. Emma was sure that he was apologizing to him. Emma was actually happy that Henry wasn't angry at Snow and David, they boy really needed his grandparents, his heroes.

"I am sorry that the loft burned" Emma told Snow sincerely as she looked at Henry's crib.

Snow gave Emma a little sad smile. She was heartbroken about that, the loft held so many memories between all the family and it was hard to watch it completely collapse. She had literally lived there for twenty night years, she meet Emma, her best friend and daughter there. She hadn't had time to really think that their house was destroyed. She began to tear up.

Emma saw her mother cry and she realized that she looked so much like Mary Margaret in that moment. She couldn't help herself she walked towards her friend and hugged her close. Snow was surprised at first but then returned the hug immediately resting her head in Emma's shoulder. Emma closed her eyes and hugged her mother tighter "you once gave me a home when I needed it the most, now is my turn to do the same"

Emma gave her mother a last squish and held her by the shoulders "now let's get this all ready for Neal. I will get you some pajamas and a change of clothes" with that Emma walked out of the room suddenly freaking out for that hug.

Snow stood there and a little smile appeared in his lips. Emma hugged her, her daughter hugged her. She knew that she hugged her to console her but that was progress. All of a sudden she got thirsty and walked down to the kitchen.

"Oh my good Killian!" Emma loudly whispered to Killian who was in the kitchen accommodating the few things that had fallen off the cupboards.

"What?" Killian whispered back

"I hugged her" Emma said bringing her hand to her forehead.

"Your mother?"

"Yes, but oh shit! I shouldn't have done that, now she is going to think that maybe we are back to how we were"

Snow stopped dead in her tracks, her heart began to pound like crazy.

"Is that good or bad?" Killian asked

"Bad! I hugged her because she reminded me of Mary Margaret! Not because she is the woman who gave birth to me. Shit!"

 _"The woman who gave birth to me"_ Snow closed her eyes, feeling her heart squishing.

"Emma I think is time you let that go, your parents love you and..."

"They don't Killian and I am ok with that but I don't want them to let them that close again. I shouldn't have hugged her, why does she has to look like my best friend!?"

"Because she is your best friend Love" Killian said getting closer to Emma and holding her chin so they could make eye contact "I know how it feels to hold a grudge. I held one for hundreds of years and I also know that that pain and anger and hurt that you are feeling right now will consume you slowly. Don't do this to yourself Love. Don't do this to them. They are your parents and you are lucky to have them. I would give up almost anything to see my brother again. Your family is here, alive, so don't waste anymore time, you guys have already lost so much"

Emma looked deep into Killian's eyes "I've been in foster homes where they basically used me like a punching bag where they told me how worthless I was, but never in my life has anyone hurt me like they did. I can't forgive them."

Snow let out a pained gasp and ran quietly upstairs. Killian turned her head towards the sound and shook his head. "What was that?" Emma asked

Killian kept shaking his head "I think it was your mother, go talk to her." Killian loved Emma, but sometimes her stubbornness could be irritating.

"Are you sure it was her and not the air? Do you think she hear that? Oh my god, I didn't mean for her to hear that!"

* * *

Emma took some of her pajamas and went to the room where her parents were going to stay. She knocked in the door.

Snow took a deep breath deciding that she was going to say calm and pretend that nothing happened. "Come in"

Emma walked into the room and saw her mother getting Neal's bed ready. "I got you some pajamas and a new change for tomorrow"

"Thank you, you can leave them in the bed" Snow said in a monotonous tone.

Emma placed the clothes on the bed and stood there awkwardly "I am sorry you heard that,"

"Remember when we were at the enchanted forest in your nursery? I told you that you had to get used to having someone putting you first? I guess now I have to get used to you being angry and not wanting to be with us right?"

"I am sorry" Emma whispered.

"Me too" Snow whispered back without turning around to see her daughter; she couldn't let her daughter see her cry again. She didn't want Emma to feel guilty.

David and Henry walked in that moment. David was carrying Neal, Emma approached Neal and kissed him in the check "Good night squirrel" she said before turning around and walking out the room. Henry sensed the tension and walked up to Snow "Grandma? Are you ok?"

Snow gave him a sad smile "yes" she lied.

Henry knew that this wasn't true; he wrapped her arms around Snow giving her a tight hug "I am sorry I was so rude to you grandma. I already apologized to grandpa, I will properly apologize to you tomorrow...when I am less tired"

Snow smiled and hugged Henry back "we will talk tomorrow, now go and get some sleep, it has been a long day"

"Night grandpa! Night grandma and Neal" Henry said before he left the room.

"Are you ok Snow?" David asked,

"Yes, I am just tired" Snow lied again.

She knew that if she told her husband what Emma said it will probably destroy him, so she decided to keep it to herself even if it meant that it will eat her alive.

 **Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a comment!**


	17. Chapter 17

**So Megan/Red is going to be back for season 5! I am so exited about that, I love her so much...can you tell? Lol. For the guest who wants to bribe me...you can bribe me with reviews :) I love reading what you guys think!**

The next day

Emma woke up and saw that amazingly Killian was still sleeping, he used to wake up first but apparently the events of the day before had left him exhausted. Emma smiled and kissed Killian's forehead before heading to the shower.

Emma was drying her hair as she walked into the kitchen to find her parents already there.

"Neal decided to wake up early" David explained as he poured some coffee into a cup "I hope you don't mind..." he said looking at the coffee pot

"Oh no, you can use wherever you want in the house" Emma said awkwardly as she continued to dry her hair with a small towel "umm so, how did Neal sleep?"

"Good" David answered as he took another mug out "would you like me to pour you some coffee?"

"Oh no no" Emma said as she placed the towel in the back of a chair "I will do it, don't worry about it"

Snow was sitting at the dinner table with Neal sitting in her lap. Emma walked to the coffee machine and got herself a coffee as David sat in the dinner table next to Snow. An awkward silence filled the kitchen. Emma wondered if Snow had told David what she had heard her say last night. David's almost happy attitude told her that her mother hadn't told him anything.

"So Emma, I wanted to thank you for saving our lives yesterday. I am sure that if you hadn't use magic we would probably be dead," David stated.

"What do you mean?" Emma asked intrigued.

"Well for starters Snow was standing in a chair putting some dishes in the high shelves and when the earthquake started she fell down, I really thought that she was going to hit her head, but then this energy surrounded her and we knew that we were going to be ok" David said smiling at Emma.

Emma took a sip of her coffee and gave David a small smile "I am glad you three are fine"

"She saved us right Snow?" David asked looking at Snow.

Snow looked up at David then at Emma "yes, she did"

Emma noticed that her mother had the saddest eyes she had ever seen. She kind of hated herself for letting her mother hear her last night. David noticed the tension between the two women and wondered if it bad to do with the tension he felt last night.

"So today we will go and see if something from the loft survived from the fire" Emma said as she leaned on the kitchen island facing them.

"I don't think we will find anything in there" David said "we will also need to buy new clothes for the three of us"

"You can take half the day off if you want" Emma suggested

"Oh no, I know it will be a busy day today and I wouldn't like to leave you alone"

"I can handle it, it's your choice"

"Red is going to help me with that, so you don't have to come Charming " Snow said.

"Of course she is" Emma murmured.

"Excuse me?" Snow said.

"Oh nothing, we should get going David, as you said today is going to be a busy day" Emma said as she finished her coffee and placed it in the sink.

"All right lets go," David said as he got up and kissed his wife goodbye.

* * *

In the car

"I can't believe you are letting me drive" David told Emma

"Don't get used to it, I am texting right now so I can't drive" Emma said looking down at her phone.

David smiled "who are you texting with?"

Emma looked at David and raised her eyebrow. Why was he asking her so many questions? "Angelica and Leo, we are in a group text"

David nodded. "They seemed really nice"

"They are" Emma answered knowing that David wanted to ask her more about the Hierro family.

"When did you meet them?"

Emma took a deep breath "David don't get me wrong but I don't think you really want to hear about them due to...you know" Emma knew that Charming and Snow were a little jealous of the Hierro family.

"Emma I know our relationship is not the best right now, and I also know that you don't want to talk about what has happened between us. But can we at least be friends? I mean we will literally be together not only at work but at your house too."

Emma thought about it. She really didn't want to feel awkward with more than one person at her house, having Snow walking in eggshells around her was enough.

"Ok, deal"

"Great! So when did you meet the Hierro?"

"Umm when I was nine, they were my foster parents for almost 3 years. They were really nice, they were actually the best foster parents I had"

"Good, and what do they do for a living?"

"They have a music company in different states in the U.S and in other countries too"

"I noticed that they had an accent, so are they from another realm?"

Emma laughed, "You mean country? Yes, they are from another country. They speak Spanish that's why they have an accent"

"Interesting, did they taught you Spanish?" David said as he parked in front of the sheriff's office.

"Yes, I am actually quite good" Emma didn't know why it felt so easy to talk to David as if they were just friends asking each other questions.

"You should teach me in case we don't want someone to understand us. I think nobody here speaks Spanish"

"Yeah, you are not that smart" Emma joked, "Spanish is a really hard language"

"If you could learn it..." David whispered.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Nothing, nothing" David smiled, he had missed this moments with her.

* * *

Snow decided to prepare some breakfast for Henry and Killian. She placed Neal in Henry's baby walker and got all the ingredients out to make some eggs and waffles.

Henry woke up and walked down to the kitchen "Morning Mary Margaret" He said as he rubbed his eyes "I meant Snow, grandma...wherever"

Snow looked at him and smiled "so you are not a morning person just like your mother?"

"I'm just tired" Henry answered "Grandma we need to talk"

"Why don't we talk about it later we can have breakfast first?" Snow said with a little smile, she perfectly knew what Henry wanted to talk about.

"Deal, do you want me to help you?"

"Do you know how to cook"

"I am not ten anymore" Henry said with a smile as he got up to help Snow "and I used to cook when we were in New York, and when I say cook I mean waffles and scrambled eggs"

"You were really cute when you were ten" Snow commented remembering the shy and lonely kid that she knew so well.

"Were?" Henry laughed "well thank you grandma"

"No! I didn't mean it like that!" Snow said, "I just meant that I miss that kid,"

"I miss Ms. Blanchard too," Henry said as he cracked some eggs in a bowl "she was my first true friend you know"

Snow smiled touched. She remembered what Emma said last night _"I only hugged her because she reminded me if my friend"_ She wondered if Emma and Henry liked Mary Margaret better.

"Can I ask you something Henry?"

"Yes"

"Did you like me better when I was her? Mary Margaret"

"No" Henry immediately answered "I mean I liked Mary Margaret she was really nice to me, but I always wanted you, Snow White. I mean you really kick ass. How could I don't want a grandma like that?!"

Snow smiled and hugged Henry "thank you"

"Good morning" They hear Killian say.

"Good morning Killian" Snow said as she let go of Henry "breakfast will be ready in just a moment, you can take a sit"

The three of them had breakfast and made small talk. Killian decided to go and help Emma knowing that today was going to be a busy day.

"We can just put the dishes in the dishwasher," Henry suggested. He was getting a little nervous about the talk that he was going to have with her grandmother.

"Ok, that's good with me" Snow said.

They placed the dishes in the dishwasher and Henry stood in the kitchen awkwardly. "Can we talk now?"

"Sure" Snow said giving Henry a reassuring smile, she knew that he was nervous.

"Can we go to the porch? I feel like I need some fresh air"

"Sure just let me get Neal a sweater first"

"Ok, cool I will wait for you there" Henry needed air, he felt more nervous to talk to his grandma than with his gramps. Maybe because he first knew Snow as his teacher and he still felt like a kid around her.

Henry sat at the front porch steps to wait for her grandmother. Snow got out of the house and placed Neal's baby walker in the grass so he could walk around while she talked with Henry.

Snow walked back to the porch steps and sat next to Henry. "I know that you were mad because we hurt your mother" Snow started "But I assure you that it wasn't us Henry"

"Grandpa told me about that and I believe you. Grandma I know I hurt you and I am so sorry for that. I was just trying to protect my mother from anyone who might hurt her, but in that process I hurt you and grandpa and I am really sorry about that."

Snow took a deep breath and half hugged Henry by the shoulders "I knew you only wanted to protect your mother. I won't deny that it hurt, but what hurt the most was to know that we did not only hurt Emma, but you too. I am so sorry Henry"

"It wasn't you grandma. Now I know that you will never hurt my mother like that. I should've talked to you the way I did, and I am so sorry about that"

"Don't apologize anymore Henry. I am just happy that you don't hate me anymore"

"I love you grandma" Henry said as he hugged Snow "and I will help you and gramps"

* * *

Emma and David walked towards the burned and destroyed loft. They had talked to the dwarfs making sure that they were working on the other houses that were damaged.

"I don't think we will find anything here, everything burned" David said as they walked trough the debris that was left of what had been the loft.

Emma kicked a burned piece of wood that was on her way and saw a photo frame. She bended down and picked it up. She turned it around and cleaned it. It was a picture they she took with Mary Margaret when they were only friends when things were a little bit easier. Emma smiled remembering that day. She really missed her best friend.

"What did you find there?" David asked

"Oh it's just a photo...do you want it?" Emma said as he gave the frame to David.

David looked at the photo and smiled "Snow will love it, this was her favorite photo"

Emma only nodded "things were easier back then"

David looked up at Emma and frowned "I was married and I loved another woman. I basically had an affair and we all had miserable lives. Not to mentioned that you hated me for breaking your friends heart"

"I didn't hated you...I just dislike you a lot" Emma said with a little smile.

David laughed "I swear every time I saw you I thought you were going to punch me or something"

"Mary told me not to"

"Wait you wanted to?"

"Umm yeah. You broke my best friend's heart. What was I supposed to do? But Mary made me promise her that I wouldn't hurt you"

"I don't blame you. I still feel so bad about that, I kind of want to punch that guy too"

"Oh there you are!" They hear Regina said.

"Is she talking to you or me?" Emma asked David

"David I need to talk to you" Regina said as he approached David

"What is it?" David asked

"Can we talk in private?"

"Yeah sure. Here Emma hold this" David said as he gave Emma the frame back.

David and Regina moved to the sidewalk. "Belle found something that could explain what happened to you and Snow"

"What is it?" David immediately asked.

"There is this one spell that that sounds exactly like what happened to you and Snow. It says that it can make the people that you love most hurt you, and the spell breaks once your heart is completely shattered"

"The spell broke when we told Emma all those horrible things" David said in a slow voice

"Yes, but here is the complicated part. There is no way for us to prove that you were under that spell"

"Wait why?"

"That's how the spell works. It doesn't leave a trace, that's why it's so effective"

"Do you think Emma will believe us without any proof?"

Regina looked at Emma and shook her head "No, I am sorry but I think she won't believe you. She is still hurt"

"We have to try"

"I will go and talk to Snow to see what she thinks, mean while don't bring this up to Emma"

"Did you found anything else" David asked as he approached Emma again.

"Not really, I don't even know how this frame survived the explosion"

"Love" David simply said.

Emma knew exactly what David was referring to. The love that Emma felt for her mother since she meet her and vice versa. "We have to go and help the dwarfs," Emma said as she gave the frame back to David.

* * *

"So, how are things with Emma? Now that you guys are living together things might get easier for you three" Red said as she drove to the town.

"I don't think so, she is still so hurt and afraid Red. I don't blame her...She hugged me last night"

"That's great isn't?"

Snow told Red the whole story and what she heard Emma tell Killian "I love her Red and I will never give up on her, but I won't deny that she hurt me. I know that she has all those walls for a reason but the fact that she won't even listen to our explanation, that just shows that indeed she never loved me"

"She loved Mary Margaret and you know that"

"She loved Mary Margaret but not me, Snow White, her mother. And that right there is what hurts the most"

"You have to keep trying"

"I don't know what else to do"

"Be her friend, show her that Mary Margaret is still there"

"She won't even talk to me! She talks to David but when it comes to me is as if she doesn't even wants me around"

"Snow, you know I love you to death but sometimes your emotions get the best of you. Emma freaks out when you go all momma bear on her"

"So you are telling not to act like a mother with my daughter?"

"Exactly, just be her friend. Be the bandit Snow. Be fearless and direct"

After Snow and Red did some shopping they went to Granny's where Regina was waiting for them. Regina told Snow what she told David.

"She won't believe us," Snow said.

"You have to try" Red said, "I know that deep down Emma wants to believe you"

"We can all talk to her. Maybe it will be easier for you and her to have a mediator" Belle suggested

"We all know that that is a bad idea. She will think that you guys are in my side and she won't talk to you again" Snow said in a sad tone

"I am sorry Snow" Regina said feeling bad for the mother in front of her.

Granny's door opened and David and Emma walked in.

"I think that the houses will be ready within two weeks" Emma told David.

"Si (yes)" David answered.

Emma laughed "that is the only thing you know in Spanish, I think I am going to regret teaching you"

"Si (yes)" David said again with a smile, Emma laughed louder.

Snow watched father and daughter talk as if they were old friends. She couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous.

"Oh hey there" David said when he saw his wife and friends.

Emma turned around and saw her friends sitting with her mother. They looked at Emma weird and Emma could feel it.

"Do you guys want to sit with us?" Belle said "we can push a table together if you guys want to"

"Sure" David said "we are just here to get some late evening coffee"

"I think I will go back to the sheriff station, I have things to do" Emma told David.

"Do you want me to help you?" David asked.

"Oh no, I just have to get some things ready and organize some stuff"

"The office must be a mess" Belle said "I know because the library is a mess too"

Emma looked at David and they shared a little smile "oh yes, it is a mess. Papers everywhere and...stuff"

"You used magic to clean it, didn't you?" Regina asked knowing Emma's face expression.

"I wasn't going to waste my time cleaning it! I had more important things to do" Emma said, "well anyways, I have to go. I will take the car David, if you want you can go straight home with Ruby and Mary Margaret I will meet you there"

With that Emma left Granny's and headed to the station. She really didn't want to sit with Snow or Red. Every time she looked at her mother she felt her heart constrict knowing that she had hurt her own mother, her best friend. She was avoiding Snow because she wanted to avoid the guilt that she felt for hurting the person that she loved the most. She loved her father, she truly did, but she had loved her mother first when she was only a shy schoolteacher.

"So are you going to tell her?" Regina asked Snow and David.

"We will find the right moment to tell her," David answered.

Red gave Snow and David a ride back to Emma's house. They found Henry and Killian already getting stuff ready to make dinner. Henry invited Red to stay and have dinner with them. At first Red politely refused knowing that Emma will feel uncomfortable with her there. Henry insisted until Red accepted to stay and have dinner with them.

* * *

Emma arrived home at 8:00. "I hope dinner is ready, if not someone is turning into a talking Chihuahua" Everyone heard Emma say.

Emma walked into the kitchen and saw that they were waiting for her in the table. She felt awkward "this is so creepy" she murmured.

"Sit down love, dinner is ready" Killian said as he stood up to get her a plate.

"Why were you late mom?" Henry asked

"Umm I called Angelica and Leonardo and time passed quickly, sorry for keeping you waiting"

"How are they?" Henry asked.

"They are good. They ask me about you and Killian they send their greetings"

"Oh, tell them I said hi too" Killian said as he sat down giving Emma her plate.

The table went silence again, god you could cut the tension with a knife. Emma's dark humor took the best of her again and she let out a little chuckle. Henry knowing why her mother was laughing began to laugh too.

Emma looked at Henry and they began laughing harder. Everybody in the table was looking at them as if they were crazy, except Killian who was used to this already.

"What's so funny?" Red asked

"They have this thing" Killian explained "their own little jokes I guess"

"Sorry" Emma said as she controlled her laughter.

"I guess I got it from you?" Henry asked Emma, he was referring to the dark humor.

Emma immediately knew what Henry was referring to "I guess, but it might come kick you in the ass. Specially when you are in serious situations"

"What are you two talking about?" David asked confused.

"Emma has a dark humor" Snow said "and she laughs in serious situations or when she feels tension or awkwardness"

Emma looked up at Snow and raised her eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"I was your roommate for a year Emma. I think I know you. Remember when you couldn't stop laughing when Ms. Smith lost her white terrier in the snow? "

Emma started laughing again and this time Snow was laughing too.

"I feel so confused right now" David said.

"Well one day Emma and I were having lunch at the loft and a very distressed Mrs. Smith called Emma. Emma put the phone in speaker so she could continue eating. Ms. Smith had lost her white terrier while they were taking a walk in the snow. As we all know poor Mrs. Smith can hardly see, so she lost her dog because it was white and the snow is white. Emma covered her mouth and started laughing hysterically. I had to tell Mrs. Smith that we were going to find her dog" Snow said while looking at Emma who was still laughing.

"Oh come on! You laughed too" Emma told Snow.

"You made me laugh!" Snow said trough laughter.

Emma looked at Snow and smiled. She remembered that day so well. Emma had mentioned the day before that she had a craving for some lasagna, and just before lunch Mary Margaret had texted her to go and have lunch at the loft because she had made lasagna. Snow had acted like a mother to her even when she didn't know Emma was her daughter.

Snow smiled back at Emma "We spend two hours looking for the terrier" Snow said "two hours in which Emma couldn't stop laughing or chuckling"

"That day was amazing" Emma blurted out. She immediately looked up at Snow waiting for Snow to say or do something motherly.

Snow just smiled "yes, it was really fun"

"I have to admit that is kind of funny" David said as he laughed a little bit.

They continued eating without any more tension. Killian and Red told stories of their past and Emma made herself forget about what was going on between her and her parents, at least for a while. They fish eating and Red and Henry placed the plates and everything at the dishwasher.

"Can I talk to you Emma?" Red asked Emma.

Emma looked at Red and nodded "sure, why don't we go outside" Emma knew that she couldn't avoid talking to Red anymore, after all they were friends and they also shared friends.

"Why are you acting like that towards me?" Red blurted out as they walked outside.

"Acting like what?"

"Like a brat? I don't know! I just feel like you are avoiding me and giving me the evil eye. I know that you are upset about what I told you at the sheriff's station, but someone needed to tell you that"

"Yes, I am mad at you"

"Why?"

Emma looked down and shook her head "I don't know" she said in a whisper. And to be honest she didn't know why she was mad at Red.

Red wrapped Emma into a hug "I love you Emma, I've loved you since the moment you mother told me that she was pregnant with you. That day I made a promise to protect you and love you like an aunt. And I plan to keep that Promise even if it means that I have to protect you from yourself too"

Emma hugged Red back "protect me from myself?"

"You are breaking your own heart Emma"

"I am not, I am protecting it" Emma said as she let go of Red.

"I know you love them, I can see it in your eyes every time you look at them. Let them explain, open your heart, I know you miss them."

Emma let out a breath and said "we need to stop talking about them because if we don't we are going to fight again"

"Ok, I get it" Red said with a shrug.

Emma went inside the house to take a shower and get ready to go to bed early. She finished her shower and went and snuggled next to Killian in the bed. In mere minutes Emma was asleep.

* * *

"It seems that you and Emma are back to normal again," Snow said as she lay in bed.

"I won't say that. I just told her that we should at least be friends, I mean we see each other the entire day" David said sensing that something was bothering Snow.

"Ok" Snow answered

David let out a laugh "are you seriously jealous?"

"No!...maybe a little. I am happy for you David I truly am but I don't know I just feel like she likes to talk to you more"

"Just be her friend and she will talk to you too"

* * *

Snow woke up early in the morning and for some reason she couldn't fall asleep again. She walked downstairs and prepared some hot coco. She took the mug and went outside to sit at the porch steps. She started thinking of what Emma had said to them in the sheriff station _"I never loved you and I never will"_ Snow closed her eyes and lowered her head. Her daughter had said that because that's how she felt, she wasn't cursed like they were when they said all those horrible things to her. Snow wanted to keep hope that her daughter might forgive them but hearing her say that nobody else had hurt her like David and she did, that just broke Snow's heart. She started to cry as she looked at the sunrise and the lake in front of her.

Emma woke up with an uneasy feeling. She got out from the bed and walked towards the kitchen, she saw that someone had prepared some coco, she immediately knew who it was. Her mother. She walked towards the living room but Snow wasn't there. She looked trough the living room window and saw her mother sitting at the porch steps. She looked like she was trembling, Emma though that it was because if the cold. She went to the closet and got her a blanket, as much as she didn't really wanted to talk to her, she wasn't going to let her get a cold either. She walked outside and noticed that her mother wasn't trembling from the cold, her mother was crying. Emma closed her eyes, knowing why her mother was crying. She walked up and dropped the blanket in her shoulders. Snow froze when she felt someone wrapping her in a blanket.

"You might get a cold" Snow heard Emma say.

"Thank you" Snow said as she placed the mug down next to her and wrapped the blanket around her.

Emma didn't know what to do or say. She stood there awkwardly for a couple of seconds.

"Couldn't sleep?" Emma finally asked.

"Something like that" Snow answered still looking at the sunrise "you?"

"Something like that" Emma repeated, she wanted to sit down next to her mother but she couldn't. She couldn't let herself be to close to her again. Emma turned around and walked inside the house again. She walked to the kitchen and got herself a cup of coco too. She went to her room to get her laptop. She sat at dinner table to check her Email, she saw that Angelica had send her a video. Emma immediately clicked on it.

A ten-year-old Emma appeared at the screen, she was next to Leonardo who was holding a guitar.

"Are you ready Emma?" Angelica's voice was heard behind the camera.

Little ten-year old Emma nodded. Alejandro started to play the guitar and Emma began to sing

Snow was walking inside the kitchen when she heard the voice of a little girl singing. She looked up and saw that Emma was looking at the screen with tears in her eyes.

 _I' m standing on a bridge  
I'm waiting in the dark  
I thought that you'd be here by now  
There's nothing but the rain  
No footsteps on the ground  
I'm listening but there's no sound_

 _Isn't anyone trying to find me?  
Won't somebody come take me home?_

 _It's a damn cold night  
Trying to figure out this life  
Won't you take me by the hand?  
Take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are  
But I... I'm with you  
I'm with you_

"Emma? Is that you singing?" Snow whispered. She knew that it was her Emma, her little girl.

Emma immediately closed her computed and looked up. "Umm...I...that's not..." Emma babbled.

Snow gave Emma a sad smile and walked up to the sink to leave her mug there. It hurt so much to hear her little girl sing and pleading to her parents to come and get her.

"You weren't supposed to hear that" Emma whispered.

"I know, just as you weren't supposed to hug me the other day, right? Emma I know I hurt you, and that kills me every time I breathe. But...you are hurting me too Emma" Snow said in a broken voice.

Just in that moment David walked in the kitchen. "What is going on?" He asked a teary Snow.

"Nothing" Emma said as she began to stand up, she needed to run, she needed to get the hell away from them.

"No, Emma wait" David said noticing the defeated face of his wife. "We have to tell you something"

Snow looked up at David and shook her head. "Yes Snow, we have to tell her" David insisted, he was tired of waiting around and walking on eggshells around Emma. He was tired of seen both Emma and Snow hurt.

"Emma" David began "remember that we told you that we were cursed?"

"Not with this again please" Emma said

"Yes Emma, we have to tell you and you have to listen" David said firmly "Belle and Regina found a spell that explains what happened to us, that explains why we said the things that we said"

"Where is the proof? I don't believe you, let me see this famous spell and maybe I will believe you two" Emma said getting a little upset.

"The spell doesn't leave a trace, it is as if nothing had happened" David argued "That's why its so powerful because it's victims only wake up when they had broken the heart of the person that loves them the most. That's why the spell broke when we said all those horrible things to you. We can't prove anything because there is no trace..."

"How convenient" Emma said as she walked towards the kitchen exit "I don't believe you, I don't believe in that..."

"You don't believe us" Snow said heartbroken "you don't to believe _in_ us. Emma we are telling you the truth" Emma kept walking towards the front door "please Emma don't walk away from us" Snow pleaded.

"You walked away from me many times, why would I stay here?" Emma said turning around to see them.

"Emma please believe us" David said "if you walk out that door it will mean that what you said the other day at the station is true"

"What?" Emma asked

"That you never loved us and that you never will" David said with a pleading look "Emma please just listen to us"

Emma looked at her parents and felt the room starting to close up on her, she felt like she couldn't breath. She panicked and turned around and ran out the door.  
Emma began to run towards the forest, she ran as fast as she could.

Snow shook her head, knowing that they have lost their daughter. David stood there as if Emma had slapped him.

"I will go check on Neal" Snow said in a monotonous tone.

David looked at her alarmed. She sounded like someone completely different, as if Emma had taken his wife when she ran out that door.

"Snow? Are you ok?" David said taking Snow's arm. Snow jerked her arm away.

"I will go get our things ready. She obviously doesn't want us here"

"Snow?" David took Snow by the shoulders and shook her "Snow?!"

Snow didn't responded; she had completely closed herself. Her pain was so deep that she couldn't even respond.

"Snow?!," David almost screamed.

Snow closed her eyes and opened them again and she collapsed to the floor. David held her close to his chest while she sobbed. They had lost their daughter and they both knew that. Snow continued crying until she heard Neal's cry from upstairs. She cleaned her tears and stood up "I will go check on Neal, he still needs me"

David followed Snow to their room.

"Now what?" David asked

"I don't know David, but I think she doesn't want us here. She made her point really clear when she walked out that door. I love her David, I love her to a point where it hurts, but I don't want her to feel uncomfortable in her own house."

"I know" David agreed "I will go and see if Belle has a house that she could rent us. Do you think I should go and see where Emma went? She looked really upset when she left"

"I don't think she wants to see either of us right now, but I don't want her to get hurt either. Go and see if you can find her, but make sure that she doesn't see you, she might get more upset"

Emma continued running until her legs gave up, she collapsed to the floor and was breathing rapidly. She looked around and realized that this was the place where Ingrid had sacrificed herself. She took deep breaths trying to compose herself. She leaned over a log that was next to her. She continued to breath until she finally relaxed a little bit. She felt a shiny light ay her eyes. She looked to the floor and saw a necklace in form of a snowflake in the floor. She recognized that necklace; it was Ingrid's necklace. She reached up to the necklace and when she touched it she felt magic go trough her body, she closed her eyes and when she opened them she was at the middle of the forest and Ingrid and Gold were there.

 _"_ _Oh it is really simple actually. One of the things that Emma fears the most is to lose the love of her parents, to be replaced and be let down as she's always been. The arrival of the new member of the charming family will make everything so much easier" Gold said in a dark voice "You will have to be patient dearie. This will probably take a couple of months but once she is completely broken again...she will be yours" He ended with a wicked smile._

"What the fuck is going on!?" Emma screamed, but apparently this was just a memory because Gold and Ingrid didn't responded.

 _The Snow Queen let out a little laugh. "That is exactly what I need, I need her to think that they don't love her, that I am the only one who truly loves her, who cares about her. What will happen to them? Are they going to live under the influence of the spell forever again?"_

"Don't do this! Please don't do this!" Emma begged as she felt tears begging to roll down her check. Emma felt that her heart was constricting with each word she was hearing.

 _"_ _No, you see the spell only has one purpose, to make them break their own daughter's heart, once that is done, they will come back...they will see what the spell made them do. It will be as if they were never under any spell, there won't be any trace of any kind of spell."_

 _"_ _So if there is no trace of the spell..."_

 _"_ _They will have no proved that what they did was under the influence of the spell, they won't be able to prove to Emma that they weren't themselves. I am also sure that this spell will not only break the heart of the savior. Once her mother comes to her senses again, I am sure that she won't be able to live with herself knowing that she broke her daughter's heart"_

"No! Please no!" Emma screamed to Ingrid and then she was back in the present time.

"No!" Emma screamed in agony realizing what she had done to her parents. She had said nasty things to them and she hadn't been cursed like they were. She had hurt her parents, when all they ever wanted to do was love her. She could still see their expressions when she said all those nasty things to them at the station, she could hear her mothers pained sob, she could see her fathers defeated expression when she walked away from them this morning. She had hurt her mother, the woman who had loved her even when she didn't know who Emma truly was. He had hurt the man who would do anything to keep her safe. "No no no!" Her pain was so strong that she began to hit the log.

 **As always, thank you so much for the reviews and please keep them coming! I love reading them, they always encourage me to write more.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Ok so I have some people basically telling me that I like David better than Snow and other people who say that I don't like David and that I prefer MamaSnow. I have mentioned it before and I will say it again. I always try to keep a balance between the two. One thing that I have noticed though is that every time I write something about Emma and Snow some people immediately say that I don't like David, but nobody says anything when I do write nice moments between Emma/David. I do not make other characters call David "Charming" because I personally feel that the nickname is something between David and Snow so if that bothers you I am sorry but I don't really see Killian, Emma or Henry calling David "Charming".**

* * *

David was walking trough the forest looking for her daughter when he heard Emma's agonizing scream. He began to run towards the sound.

"Emma!" David screamed as he ran trough the forest. He was afraid, he had never hear his daughter scream like that. Emma screamed again and David ran towards her again. She saw her on the floor hitting a log. He ran towards her "Emma!" He screamed again as he got closer to her again. Emma continued to cry and hit the log. David didn't know what was wrong with Emma but he kneeled next to her and grabbed her hands. Emma looked up and saw David's concern face.

"Dad?" Emma whispered before throwing her arms around him clinging to him as if her life depended on it.

David was surprised to hear his daughter call him dad again. He immediately wrapped his arms around Emma. David sat against the log and Emma was next to him hugging him and sobbing.

"Shhh Emma everything is ok" David said as he ran his hand up and down Emma's arm.

"I am so sorry dad, I am so sorry," Emma, sobbed in David's chest.

"It's ok Emma breath honey, just breath," David whispered.

Emma hugged David tighter, she couldn't believe that he was there with her, when she had acted so horrible to him and to her mother no long ago.

"It's ok Emma. I am here. You are ok" David kept repeating.

Emma continued crying in her dad's chest for a long time, until there were no more tears left in her body.

David waited until Emma's breathing went to normal and he took Emma's chin and made her look up at him "Emma? What's wrong? What happened?" David asked concerned.

Emma took Ingrid's necklace and show it to him.

David frowned "I don't understand"

"This was Ingrid's" Emma explained in a whisper, she felt so exhausted "she...her and gold put a spell on you and mom. Ingrid wanted me as her sister, so she put a spell on you to hurt me so I would go and live with her"

David's face went red and full of anger, Emma had never seen him like that. She feared that he was angry with her "please don't be angry with me daddy" Emma whispered scared.

David looked down at Emma and gave her a reassuring smile "I am not mad at you princess, I am mad at them" David said

Emma let out a relieved signed and hugged her dad tighter "I am so sorry dad, I am so sorry. Please forgive me"

David kissed Emma's forehead and said, "I love you princess"

"I love you too dad" Emma responded.

They continued in that position for a long time. Emma let out a yawn and David smiled.

"We should go home, you need to rest" David said,

"I can't go home" Emma whispered

"Why?" David asked confused

"Mom is there"

"Emma I though you knew that what we said..."

"I know you guys were cursed, but I wasn't. I said some horrible things to you guys and...what if she doesn't want me anymore?"

"I can assure you that it has never been a day even a second, in which your mother hadn't wanted you. She loves you Emma, she loves you more than life itself. She even loved you and cared about you when she was cursed and she was only Mary Margaret" David told Emma.

Emma knew that David said that to make her feel better, but it only made Emma feel worst. Her mother had loved her since the beginning; she had been there for her like no other friend had. Emma remembered what she told Killian the day she hugged Snow. She closed her eyes and began to cry again. She couldn't imagine the pain that her mother felt in that moment, Emma had basically said that she would never forgive her and that they hurt her like no other.

"Hey hey, everything is going to be ok Emma" David said when Emma began to cry again "your mother loves you, I love you"

"how could you say that? I know that I hurt you, and I don't have the curse excuse. Please don't lie to me. I know that I hurt you"

David took a deep breath "yes, you hurt me Emma, but I hurt you too. I won't deny that what you said at the sheriff's station hurt like hell but we can work trough all this"

"What about what I said to Killian the day you guys moved in?"

"What are you talking about?" David asked confused.

"She didn't told you" Emma whispered.

"Who is she?"

"Snow...mom. She didn't told you what I said," Emma said realizing that her mother hadn't told David anything.

"What did you say? David asked.

Emma told him everything, starting from the hug. David closed her eyes and a tear began to roll down his check. Now he understood why Snow had kept that from him. If she had told him what Emma said...it would've destroyed him. He couldn't imagine the pain that Snow felt in that moment.

"Dad?" Emma whispered as she finally let go of him and sat next to him facing him. She had never seen her father like that and it hurt knowing that she had caused him that pain.

David lowered his head and continued to shed tears. Emma leaned over and cleaned the tears with his thumb. "Do you really feel like we hurt you more than those horrible foster parents that you had" David asked in a broken voice.

"Yes" Emma whispered, she truly did feel that way.

David let out a sigh and began to cry again. Emma felt as if her heart was being ripped out again. "But you know why I feel that way? In my entire life, I've never loved someone as much as I love you and mom or Henry. That's why you were the one's that have hurt me the most, because you are the ones that I love the most"

David opened his arms and Emma immediately crawled back to them, hugging his father close to her. She had never felt safer that when she was in his father's arms. "I love you daddy," Emma whispered.

David let out a breath, it was amazing to her his little girl call him daddy, he felt as if he had waited eternity to hear those words come out of Emma. David hugged Emma tighter and whispered, "I love you more princess" David kissed Emma's temple again.

"Do you think she will forgive me?" Emma asked David.

"Emma you have to understand two things. One, as I've said before, your mother loves you so so much. Two, I know this is not going to make you feel any better and I apologize, but you hurt her and she, we, hurt you too and that takes time to heal"

"She won't want me anymore?" Emma asked like a little girl who was scared that her mother wouldn't love her.

"She will always love you Emma. All I am saying is that the wound is fresh and it will need time to heal and I know that we, hurt you too which will also take time to heal" David said honestly to Emma.

"Why dad?! Why every time I think that life is finally going to be good for me, when I think that I will finally have the family that I've always wanted...something just comes up and destroys everything?" Emma said

"Your mother asked me the same thing no long ago. What I can tell you is to not give up on those dreams, keep fighting for your family"

"I am so tired of fighting...I've done that all my life"

"So have we Emma" David said as he ran his hand in Emma's curls "but you are worth all the fighting, you and Neal are everything for us"

Emma took a deep breath. Remembering what Red had told her about the life of her parents. They weren't that different from her, they both had faced injustices and heartaches. She decided to face this as the fighter that she had always been, as the fighter that her parents have always been.

"We have a huge mess to clean don't we? Emma said with a little laugh.

David let out a little laugh too "you really have a dark humor princess"

Emma stood up and gave his father a hand "I really like that" she said as she helped her father stand up

"Having a dark humor?"

"No, I really like you calling me princess. I've missed that," Emma said as she wrapped an arm around his father's waist and rested her head in his shoulder.

David laughed and wrapped an arm around her daughters shoulders "in two hours you will be telling me to not call you princess anymore" and with that father and daughter walked towards their house, both half hugging each other.

* * *

Snow was packing the little stuff they had in a suitcase when she heard someone knock the door.

"Come in" she said

Henry opened the door and walked inside "Good morning gra..." Henry stopped dead in his tracks, he looked at the suitcase in the bed.

"What are you doing?" Henry asked Snow

"Umm, we will go and live with Red while we found a new house" Snow said giving Henry a little smile.

"Why? Don't you like to live her with us"

"Is not that Henry, I just think that things will be better if we live somewhere else"

"Better for who? You? Gramps? Mom? I will tell you that being away won't solve anything"

"Henry you don't understand..."

"Then tell me, help me understand how being away from each other will help" Henry said as he sat down in the bed "go ahead I am all ears."

"I've had a rough morning Henry, can we please don't do this?" Snow pleaded.

"I won't let you or gramps or Neal leave. We have to work together to get our family back"

"Is not your decision Henry" Snow said "and I am sure that your mother will agree on this one"

"You are giving up on her?"

"I will never give up on my daughter Henry, but there are times where you just need to walk away"

"I don't understand, you are Snow White! You don't give up! You don't walk away, you have to keep fighting!" Henry said

"I am sorry Henry but we can't stay here anymore"

"But why!?" Henry asked, he was getting a little desperate.

Snow took a deep breath and looked at Henry "We just can't"

"You are leaving her again" Henry whispered

"I am not leaving anybody!" Snow said as she placed the last things in the suitcase.

"Yes you are!"

"I can't do this right now Henry. I will talk to you latter" Snow said as she took the suitcase down from the bed. She carried it towards the hall and down to the front porch. She came back to the room to get Neal. Henry was still in the same position he was when Snow left.

"The Snow White that I know will never walk away from a fight, not when it concerns her family" Henry whispered.

Snow picked up Neal and walked towards the door. She stopped and looked back at Henry "I will never give up on your mother or you Henry. I love you two more than life itself, but right now I believe that the best thing is for us to take some time to think to reevaluate"

Henry got up and walked towards Snow "you know why she is always scared to get close to anyone? because all the people who told her that they will stay, turned their backs and walked away. Please grandma don't be one of those people"

"We both need some time apart. We hurt your mother like no other and your mother hurt us too Henry. I don't want to keep hurting her," Snow said before turning around and walking downstairs to the front porch.

Henry shook his head and walked behind his grandma "No, you won't leave, I won't let you leave. You once gave me hope when I felt like I had no one. I am doing the same now. I know it hurts but you have to keep trying"

"I am tired Henry" Snow told Henry with tears in her eyes "I am sick of making things worst with Emma. I am sick of being hurt. I am sick of faking a smile, and I am sure that your mother is tire too. I just need some time, and so does your mother"

Henry saw his grandma's sad eyes and gave her a hug "I am sorry you didn't get your happy ending grandma, but if you are too tired to fight, I will fight for you. I will get your happy ending back"

"Oh Henry, you are a very special boy" Snow said touched as she half hugged her grandson "I love you Henry, so so much"

Henry decided that he was going to go and help his grandma settle in at Red's house, so he went inside the house to get a jacket.

* * *

"I know I hurt you dad, and I promise I will make it up to you" Emma said as they walked towards her house.

"I hurt you to Emma, and I promise I will buy you a lot of bear claws and candy's and ice cream to make up for it" David said.

Emma loved that her Dad knew exactly what to say to her to make her feel better. "I guess we are starting over, aren't we?"

"That's one way to put it"

"I don't know what to say to her" Emma confessed "I mean, I hurt her when all I wanted to do since I meet her as Mary Margaret was to protect her"

David smiled "Tell her that"

"What? That I want to clone myself so I can kick myself for being a completely brat with you two?"

"Not that! Just tell her how you feel"

"I feel like crap"

"Watch your language young lady!" David teased "just talk to her, you will know what to say"

"I am not really good with words"

"And you think I am? Where do you think you got that from?"

"You are good with words! You calmed me down when I had that breakdown no long ago" Emma said looking up at her father

"Well maybe you are good too" David said as they got closer to the house. They could see the back of the house.

Emma started to breath rapidly and her heart started to beat fast. "I can't do this, what if she says that she doesn't want me? What if she is finally tired of me?

"Emma, breath honey just breath" David told her as he held her by the shoulders "That's it, nice deep breaths"

"Can we sit in the porch for a little bit? I think I need a little more time before facing her," Emma suggested.

"Sure, come on" David said as they walked around the house to the front porch.

* * *

Snow took out her phone and called Red to tell her to come pick her up at Emma's house.

Emma and David walked to the front porch. Emma stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her mother with a suitcase next to her. Her insides went cold and she felt tears in her eyes again. David closed his eyes, he forgot to tell Emma that they were thinking about staying at Red's.

"I am just so tired Red. Tired of faking a smile and act like words don't hurt me just to protect the people around me. I feel so empty inside Red. I am not giving up on her but I can't stay here anymore knowing that she hates me, knowing that if I say the wrong thing again I will hurt her. She said that I had hurt her like no other, but she also hurt me. I just don't want to hurt her more than I already have"

Emma shook her head and took steep back. She felt as if her world was slowly collapsing around her. David hurt for both his wife and daughter he took Emma's hand in his own and walked towards Snow. Emma pushed back but David pushed forward. "I can't do this dad," Emma whispered.

"Yes you can" David said as he walked towards the porch.

Snow heard someone behind her and she saw his husband practically pushing a crying Emma. Snow was so confused and she kept looking from David to Emma. David finally let go of Emma's hand and walked towards Snow to take Neal.

"You need to talk to your daughter" David said as he took Neal from Snow's arm "I will call Red to tell her that we will stay here" David took the suitcase and opened the door to walk inside.

Emma was breathing rapidly. She looked as her father got inside the house. Snow turned around and saw her daughter who had red puffy eyes. They locked eyes for what feel like hours. " _Once her mother comes to her senses again, I am sure that she won't be able to live with herself knowing that she broke her daughter's heart"_ Emma herd Gold's voice over and over in her head. Emma knew that her mother could be little momma bear and pushy sometimes, but she knew that she was that way because she loved Emma.

Emma couldn't take it anymore; she ran towards her mother and hugged her tight. Snow was surprised, her body tensed up for the surprise.

Emma took her mother's response as a sign of rejection.

"I am sorry mom. Please hold me, I need you. Please don't go, don't leave me again" Emma sobbed.

Snow got out of her surprise and immediately wrapped her daughter in a tight hug. Emma was sobbing freely now.

"It's ok honey, breath. Everything is fine. I won't leave you." Snow whispered.

"I am so sorry mom," Emma sobbed again.

Snow hugged Emma tighter "I am sorry too Emma" Snow said as she began to cry too.

"I will understand if you don't want me anymore" Emma whispered.

Snow pushed Emma back and took her daughter's checks in her hands "Emma Swan! There hasn't been a day in my life when I didn't want you. Don't you understand how much I love you?"

Emma pouted and wrapped her arms around her mother again. "I love you too mama" Emma whispered.

Snow let out a sob and hugged her not so little baby as tight as she could. She felt her hear beat with happiness and hope.

"Come on let's sit" Snow said as she let go of her daughter and sat at the porch steps. Emma sat next to her mother and looked down at the floor.

"I heard what you told Red" Emma blurted out.

"I am sorry if I hurt you" Snow said looking at Emma, but Emma was still looking down at the floor. Emma didn't answer

Emma took Ingrid's necklace out of her pocket and gave it to her mother.

"What is this?" Snow said as she took the necklace.

Emma told Snow the entire story of what she saw when she touched the necklace. "I am sorry I didn't believe you" Emma said.

Snow only nodded and gave the necklace back to Emma. "Please say something"

"I don't know what to say" Snow said as she looked down at her hands.

"Are you mad at me?" Emma whispered.

"No, we just were the victims of another crazy psycho bitch" Snow said angry "I wish she was alive so I could kill her all over again"

Emma's eyes went wide. She had never heard her mother talk like that. "I think she left this necklace in purpose, so I could find it"

"What do you mean?"

"When she sacrificed herself, she umm...I remember that she gave a look as if she wanted to say something, but she couldn't. I guess she left the necklace so I would know that you guys were cursed. I wish I had found it earlier" Emma said looking at Snow who was still looking down. "She just wanted a family. She was a lonely woman looking for love. I can't blame her," Emma said.

"I want to see it that way too, but I can't. At least not right now" Snow said

"I understand, you only knew her as the Snow Queen. I knew her as Ingrid"

Snow didn't responded and Emma got nervous about it. "Do you still want to lea..."

"Why couldn't you believe us?" Snow finally blurted out "why did you need a necklace to believe us?"

Emma opened her mouth and closed it again, she was in a lost for words.

"Why couldn't you believe us Emma?" Snow asked Emma again

"I couldn't. I've been let down so much in my life and I couldn't just let you in again. I couldn't let you hurt me again" Emma whispered.

"You couldn't let us inside your walls again because we hurt you like no other right?" Asked a teary Snow.

"Yes" Emma said hatting to see her mother cry like that.

Snow took a deep breath and looked down at the floor again. She was breathing rapidly trying to hold the sobs in.

Big fat tears were rolling down Snow's checks and to the floor.

Emma closed her eyes when she saw her mother so destroyed. "I will tell you what I told dad. No one has ever hurt me like you did, because I have never loved someone as much as I love you" Emma said sliding over until she was touching shoulders with her mother. Emma rested her head in her mother's shoulder. Snow wrapped her left arm around Emma's shoulder and rested her head on top of her daughter's.

"I am sorry for everything that I said to you and Dad. You two were cursed but I wasn't...I am so sorry" Emma said

"We hurt you too Emma...and I am sorry for that "

"Will you ever forgive me?" Emma asked.

"Will you ever forgive ME? Emma I can't imagine the pain that you must have felt when we said all those things to you"

"I don't have nothing to forgive, you were cursed, you had absolutely no control over what you were saying, but I did"

"You had as much control as I did. You have been hurt time after time. You had all those emotions bottled up inside you and you needed to get them out"

"But I told you that I never loved you and that I never will"

Snow closed her eyes again; she couldn't deny that those words had hurt her deeply. "I said those exact same words to you"

"But you were cursed and I wasn't. Don't deny that you are still hurt about that" Emma said looking up at her mother.

"Ok, I won't deny that I am still hurt about what you said, but I am sure that you still are hurt about what we said too"

Emma nodded

"We have a lot to talk about" Snow said with a little laugh "but we need your father here too"

"Do you want to talk right now?" Emma asked, "Do you want me to go get him?"

"Oh you don't need to go get him, he is at the window spying on us along with Henry" Snow said with a little laugh as she cleaned her checks.

Emma immediately turned around and saw that Henry and David were indeed spying on them from the living room window. When they saw her turn around their heads immediately went down, but it was too late because Emma had already seen them.

Emma let out a little laugh "how did you know?"

"I know my husband and I know my grandson" Snow explained "and I also know that they must be hungry, so why don't we make some breakfast and then we can talk once we are done?" Snow got up and walked to the front door. Emma walked up to her and took her hand in her own. Snow smiled touched. They walked inside and David and Henry were in the living room pretending to be in an interesting discussion. Snow and Emma looked at each other and laughed.

"We know you were looking" Emma told David and Henry

David and Henry looked at each other and brought their hands to their chest as if they were insulted.

"Oh my! How dare you accuse us of such thing!?" Henry said as he stood up "you know what I won't stay here and hear all this. I will go help Killian prepare breakfast" Henry walked towards the kitchen but stopped in front of Snow "I told you so" he said with a grin and hugged his grandmother. Snow laughed and let go of Emma's hand to hug Henry back.

Emma walked towards David and sat next to him in the sofa. Neal was walking around in the baby walker.

"How did it go?" David whispered to Emma.

"Thanks for having my back" Emma whispered back "you basically left me there to face the dragon by myself! Not cool, not cool at all"

David laughed and looked up to his wife who was looking at them suspiciously.

"She is looking at us," David whispered back to Emma.

Emma looked up to her mother and smiled "you can sit if you want, Henry and Killian will have things ready in no time"

Snow walked up to Emma and sat next to her leaving some space between the two of them. Emma knew that her mother was still hurt if what she had said and she couldn't blame her. She couldn't imagine the pain she put her parents trough.

Neal walked up to Emma and reached his little arms out to Emma. Emma smiled and picked him up. She placed him in her lap so he would be facing her. He began to make some bubbling sounds as if he was talking to Emma.

"I know right, I can't believe it either" Emma said looking at Neal as if she could understand him.

"What are you two talking about?" David asked with a huge smile. He loved seeing his two children together.

Neal frowned and looked at David and began bubbling louder as if he was arguing with him.

"I know squirrel, but I won't let that happen again" Emma said as she touched Neal's soft checks.

Snow and David looked at each other with smiles in their faces. "Won't let what happened?" Snow asked

Emma looked at the suitcase that was still in the living room and with a movement if her hand the suitcase was gone. "Your stuff are upstairs" Emma simply said.

Neal began to bubbling louder and Emma brought him close to her, giving him a hug "they won't take you away from me buddy"

"You guys will stay with us until things get better" Emma said looking at her parents as she stood up "me and Neal agreed on that" Emma walked to the kitchen with Neal in her arms.

Snow moved over to her husband and hugged him by the waist, resting her head on his chest.

"How did it go?" David asked as he kissed her head.

"I don't know, we still have a lot to talk about" Snow said

"I know, and we will"

"I am just glad she finally knows that it wasn't us who said those things"

Emma walked into the kitchen and saw Killian and Henry whispering to each other.

"Really? Whispering? Sharing secrets with each other?" Emma said as she sat in a high chair, placing Neal in the kitchen island.

"Don't be jealous mom" Henry said "we were just talking about stuff"

"Gossiping is more like it"

Killian smiled and walked up to Emma and was about to give her a kiss when he felt a little hand slap him.

"Oiii" Killian said as he moved away from Emma.

Emma and Henry began laughing hysterically; Killian's expression was priceless.

Neal turned red and began loudly bubbling to Killian, making Henry and Emma laugh louder.

"That's ok buddy," Emma told Neal "he won't kiss me again ok?"

"Oh my good! That was amazing!" Henry laughed.

"Speak for yourself" Killian said, "he is worst than your father Love"

Emma laughed "you don't want to share me with this pirate do you? Don't worry buddy I love you more"

"I am right here!" Killian said as he walked towards the stove again.

Emma hugged Neal to her again. She couldn't believe the love that she felt for that little guy. "Sorry Killian but I love him more"

The little family had breakfast together. Nobody mentioned what happened knowing that things were not completely solved. David and Snow put the dishes away since Henry and Hook cooked.

"Do you want us to leave you guys alone? Killian whispered to Emma.

"Yeah, I think they want to talk some more" Emma whispered back to Killian.

Killian took Henry and Neal to the park, leaving Snow David and Emma alone at the house.

Emma went and sat the sofa in the living room. Her parents walked in and sat at the sofa in front of Emma.

Emma had to be honest, she felt like a teenager who had done something bad and her parents were about to give her a lecture. Emma's phone rang; it was a text from Angelica. Emma laughed at the phone and began to write back.

"Can we talk?" Snow asked

"Just give me a minute, I just need to answer this" Emma said without looking up.

"Sorry" Emma said as she finished her text "I was just talking to...somebody. But go ahead lets talk"

David looked at Snow so she could start talking. Snow took a deep breath; she didn't know where to start either.

"Why don't we talk about what we said to each other first?"

Emma moved uncomfortably in the sofa but didn't answered. Snow looked at David and he looked as uncomfortable as Emma.

"What we said to you Emma, was completely disgusting and not true at all" Snow began "I remember that I told you that Neal was my real baby and that you weren't. I just want to make sure that you know that we love you and Neal equally"

Emma lowered her head and she felt tears forming in her eyes.

"I want you to know that I loved you since I meet you. When I first saw you I felt this connection with you that I didn't know how to explain. You are my baby as much as Neal Emma" Snow said looking at Emma who still had her head down.

"I said horrible things to you to Emma and I want to apologize for them. As your mother said, we love you as much as we love Neal" David said.

Emma just nodded. She couldn't deny that she still felt hurt about what they said, and she still had some insecurities.

"Did you guys ever looked for a way to get back to the enchanted forest? or did you just came here so I could save you again?" Emma asked

Snow and David looked at each other, they both knew that her daughter still resent them about that. "We did Emma, but there was no way for us to get here without another course" David explained

"Then you came back because you wanted me to save you again?" Emma asked with a broken voice "you didn't came back because you missed me"

"Yes. One of the reason we came back was for you to help us protect your bother but..." David started

"So your main reason to come back was to save Neal?" Emma asked again, she couldn't help but feel a little upset about how they were not telling her the truth "just tell me the truth!"

"We came back because we wanted you and Neal to be safe with us" David argued "yes, we came back because we needed your help but we also came back because we wanted to be with you"

Emma nodded again not really believing them.

"You don't believe us, do you?" Snow asked "you told us in the sheriff station that what we have been doing all our lives was to leave you, and you still believe that, you still believe that we left you by choice" Emma didn't respond again. Snow took a deep breath "since the moment I knew that I had you inside me my main priority was to protect you from any harm. I am sorry that you had to go trough all that pain and heartaches in your life. I know that we missed twenty night years of your life and there is nothing we could do to get those years back. You missed having us as parents and we missed seeing you grow up, and that is something that hunts us everyday"

"I will need time to heal, I hope you understand. I know that you were cursed when you said all those things but they still hurt" Emma said as a tear rolled down her check "I also know that you guys will need time to heal from what I said to you and I totally understand that you will also need time to heal...All I ask is for you not to give up on me"

"We will never give up on you Emma" David said as he stood up and walked towards Emma to hug her.

"And all we ask is for you not to give on us either" Snow said.

"I won't" Emma said as she hugged her dad.

Snow got up and walked towards her daughter to give her a hug too.

Emma was actually really exhausted, this day had been an emotional roller coaster for her "I think I will go an take a shower and maybe sleep a little" Emma said as walked up to her room to take a nap. A part of her was also avoiding talking about what she said about hugging her mother because it reminded her of Mary Margaret. She knew that that had hurt her mother deeply.

"So, see everything is better now" David said with a big smile "we finally have our daughter back"

Snow smiled at David "I know" she said halfheartedly. She still felt like her daughter wanted Mary Margaret more and that hurt her.

"What's wrong Snow?" David asked sensing his wife's worries.

"Nothing, I think I just need to take a little walk, watch Neal while I am gone" Snow said with a little smile giving her husband a kiss before leaving the house.

* * *

Snow walked towards the forest and called Red to meet her there.

"Snow?" Red asked as she approached Snow from behind "David told me that Emma finally knows the truth!"

Snow turned around and hugged her friend tight "yes, she finally believed us"

"But?"

"The things that we said to each other...we will need time to heal"

"Ummm but you were cursed"

"That doesn't change anything, we still hurt her and...Emma wasn't cursed Red. She said all those things because that's how she feels"

"Did you tell her that?"

"No, I don't want to make this about me Red. I'll just get over it"

"Snow you and David were hurt too and you need to tell her how you feel in order to work things out"

"I don't know how" Snow said looking down at her feet.

"Where is the Snow White that I know?" Red asked, "Where is the fearless bandit princess that won't back down from a fight?"

Snow let out a bitter laugh "Henry said the same thing to me this morning"

Red knew that her friend needed to be reminded of what she was and Red knew exactly how to bring her fearless friend back.

"You are right, you can't do it. You don't have the guts to do that," Red said casually.

Snow immediately looked up. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, I mean you are a princess and princesses are used to get other people to do all for them"

Snow raised her eyebrow "you and I know well that I am not that type of princess"

"Sure" Red laughed sarcastically.

Snow felt her checks heat up. She didn't like the way Red was talking to her.

"What is your problem Red?" Snow asked raising her voice a little bit.

Red knew that the Snow White that she knew was slowly coming out. She looked at Snow from head to toes and let out a laugh "Don't get mad princess. Why don't you go and sing to the blue birds?"

"You know I don't do that," Snow hissed. Red was really making her upset.

"Are we sure about that? Come on princess I want to hear you sing to the animals of the forest" Red knew that she was pushing Snow to the limit, but she needed her friend to go back to the way she was before.

"I don't do that shit! And you fucking know that!" Snow finally screamed. She took a steep towards Red.

Red smiled ear to ear, she had missed her friend, but she knew that she had to push just a little bit further. Red took a steep towards Snow too and pushed her back. Snow opened her eyes wide as she stumbled backwards. Snow let out a grunt sound and ran towards Red pushing her against a tree.

"What the fuck is wrong with you Red!?" Snow said.

Red began to laugh and Snow took a steep back confused. "I knew you still had it in you Frosty"

"Wait what?" Snow said dumbfounded.

Red walked up to Snow and tackled her to the ground. "Don't push me like that again princess"

Snow smiled finally knowing what Red was doing. Snow pushed Red off her and Red ended up in the ground "I've created a monster" Red laughed.

Snow laughed and got up, she gave Red a hand. Just as Red was getting ready to stand up, Snow lightly kicked Red in the stomach sending her to the ground again.

Snow began to laugh louder and ran deeper to the forest. Red got up and chased Snow "you will pay for that princess!" Red said as she ran behind Snow.

 **I have to be honest, this chapter was hard to write!**

 **I feel like David sometimes keeps his feeling to himself just because he doesn't want to hurt the people around him, that is why he is acting more "understanding" and Snow always says what is bothering her, she is more impulsive *Even Ginnifer Godwin said so*. I hope you guys don't think that the drama/angst is over, they still have a lot to talk about and Emma is still hurt and she will let it out next chapter.  
**

 **Thank you so much for your amazing comments! the more you review the more I write ;)**


	19. Chapter 19

**First of all thank you for the lovely reviews and your support!**

 **Sorry for the late update, but I had to deal with a really unpleasant situation this week. A person literally copied word by word a story that I am co-writing for another TV series. At first I laughed because of their lack of imagination and originality but I won't deny that it also hurt a little...that was super low and just ugh! Not everybody is as nice, supportive and creative as the OUAT family, this is why I love this fandom so much!**

* * *

Snow began to run faster, she knew that she couldn't out run red so she decided to climb a tree and surprise Red. Snow quickly climbed into a tree and waited for Red to catch up to her.

Henry and Killian were walking back to he house when they heard Red screamed at Snow. "What was that?" Henry asked Killian.

"I don't know mate but it sounded like Red," Killian said looking around. They both looked out at the distance and just in that moment Red came out from some bushes, she was looking all around her.

"Are you ok Red?" Henry yelled at Red.

Red looked up and saw Henry and Killian "yes, I am looking for your..." Red couldn't finish her sentence, Snow jumped behind Red bringing her to the ground.

Henry and Killian opened their eyes wide. "Bloody hell! Are they fighting?"

Henry look closer and it seemed like they were laughing "I think they are playing"

Snow got up laughing she looked up and saw Henry and Killian looking at her with open mouths. She smiled at them and was about to walk towards them when she felt Red tackled her again; Snow immediately responded and tried to tackle Red back.

"Why are they doing that?" Killian asked.

"Ummm, I don't know. Maybe they are remembering old times?"

"Ok ok I get it Snow...truce?" Red said as she let go of Snow and walked towards Henry and Killian

"Truce" Snow agreed.

"What was that grandma?" Henry asked as Snow got closer to the boys.

"I was reminding her who she really is" Red said proudly "a bandit"

"Do you think you could teach me that grandma?" Henry asked excitedly.

Snow laughed "We will need to ask both your mothers first"

"Sweet! Are you coming back to the house with us?"

"I think I will stay out here for a little bit longer" Snow said winking at Red

"Oh no, are you going to attack me again?" Red asked.

"No, I want to do what we used to do to relax back in the enchanted forest...run" Snow said with a big smile and she began to run towards the forest as fast as she could.

"See you later boys!" Red said as she run behind Snow.

"What the hell was that?" Killian asked confused.

"Women" Henry simply answered.

Snow run trough the forest feeling as she used to feel back when she was a bandit. She used to run to feel free, to feel as if by each steep she taking she was getting away from all her problems. Red finally caught up to her and they began to run together. " _I never loved you and I never will_ " Snow heard Emma say. She ran faster " _The woman who gave birth to me_ " keep running get away from those thoughts " _I only hugged her because she reminded me of my friend_ " run until all you feel is yourself and the wind and nature around you. Snow's legs finally gave up and she stopped running. She had tears running down her checks, she couldn't believe that she had let herself get lost in all the pain. She was Snow White damn it!

"You ok Snow?" Red asked as she breathed heavily.

Snow looked up and smiled "Yes, I am. I just needed someone to remind me who I really am"

* * *

Emma was so exhausted that she took a nap after her shower; she woke up when she heard some laughter coming from the living room. She smiled and walked towards the living room.

"Hey mom!" Henry said, "I am teaching gramps how to play Xbox, he is not really good by the way"

"Don't worry mate, that devilish box is hard to control" Killian told David.

"I can't believe that my grandson defeat me at sword fighting" David said

Emma laughed "Don't worry dad, it is hard to get the hang of it at first" Emma said as she picked up Neal from his baby walker.

David smiled at Emma; he had missed her calling him dad. Emma walked towards the boys and sat between her father and son.

"Just press the X and the Y at the same time and..." Emma started to tell her father.

"Mom! That's cheating" Henry complained.

"I'm just helping him!"

"Daddy's girl" Henry murmured.

Emma went tomato red. David smiled at his daughter "It's not cheating, it's team work, besides I can totally win against you in a real sword fight, so I am not even going to worry about this little game it is not that important and does not really requires many skills" David teased Henry

"Oh no" Emma and Killian said at the same time.

Henry paused the game and turned around to face David "this game requires skills and..."

"And we are not going to talk about this" Emma interrupted, she knew how worked up her teenage could get when it came to video games "no more video games for the rest of the day"

"But Mom!" David said in his best-annoyed teenager voice.

Emma and Killian laughed, Henry crossed her arms in annoyance. Emma smiled at Henry; he was finally acting like a normal teenager now that his family was back together. Speaking of family where was her mother?

"Where is Sno...mom?" Emma asked.

"Oh she is playing around with Red" Killian said

Emma frowned "playing around?"

Henry unfolded his arms and sat up straight "By playing around he means fighting and chasing each other. Grams actually jumped from a tree and tackled Red. She is going to teach me how to do that"

Emma felt a little clutching sensation in her stomach. Was it jealousy? Mary Margaret and Emma used to go walking to the forest why didn't she ask her to go with her. Apparently Red was better company than her. Emma immediately ignored that feeling. She wasn't jealous, was she?

"I am better than Snow when it comes to fighting or anything that requires real strength" David said with a grin.

"I am so going tell her!" Henry said

"I saw her tackled Red today and let me tell you something mate, you are in trouble"

Emma looked at her father and smiled "I have to agree with them in this one dad, you are going to sleep in the dog house tonight"

"Oh god! Forget that I said that, don't tell her"

"Too late gramps, you insulted my video games so I won't have your back on this one" Henry said with a grin.

David looked at Emma with puppy dog eyes.

"Oh no, don't look at me like that, you let me face her alone this morning, so I won't get involved in this" Emma said as she stood up with Neal in her arms "we will go and play outside and if you turn the Xbox again Henry...you know what will happen"

"Talking Chihuahua" Henry and Killian said

"Exactly" Emma said as Neal snuggled closer to her "Dad, I think Neal wants to sleep, at what time does he usually sleeps?"

"Around this time, do you want me to put him to sleep?" David stood up and walked towards Emma.

"Don't get close to him while he is with Emma, he will slap you" Killian warned David "I learned the hard way."

Killian told David how Neal had slapped him when he tried to get close to Emma.

"I've never been prouder" David smiled at Neal "good job buddy but you need to sleep now" David reached to take Neal but Neal only snuggled closer to Emma, burring his head in Emma's neck.

"I've got this" Emma said, "I will go upstairs and put him to sleep"

Emma went upstairs and cradle Neal until he felt asleep in her arms. Emma looked down at the baby in her arms and smiled. He was the perfect convention between their parents.

* * *

Emma walked downstairs to find that the boys were playing video games again. She shook her head and walked towards them. She smacked both Killian and Henry in the back of the head. "What did I told you two?"

"Ouch! That hurt!" Henry said with a little laugh while massaging the back of his head.

"Bloody hell Swan!" Killian said laughing too

"Gramps is playing too!"

"I am not going to hit my father! But you two should know better" Emma said crossing her arms.

David looked up at Emma and smiled, she looked like her mother in that position. "Don't be hard on them Emma, I...I told them if we could play again"

Emma raised her eyebrow and gave her father an incredulous look. She perfectly knew that either Henry or Killian induced the others to play. "Really dad? What? You guys are like the three musketeers now?"

"I love that!" Henry said.

Emma let out a breath "ok, you guys can play for a little longer, but next time I say no more video games you better don't disobey me." Emma said as she walked to the front porch. She got out and decided to sit at the tree swing that was next to her house. She walked towards the tree and sat down looking at the lake in front of her. She began to swing herself and think about what had happened that morning. Now that she knew that her parents had been cursed when they said all those things...it made the pain feel more bearable, but she couldn't deny that she still had some insecurities. She also had to apologize to both Snow and David individually. She wanted to be able to tell her parents how they both had hurt her but she couldn't, she knew that she needed to get all that hurt out but sometimes anger will take the best of her. She continued to swing in the tree until she heard laughter coming from her right. She turned around and saw Red running towards the house and Snow close behind her. Snow jumped and took Red down with her, making them both laugh. Emma felt that feeling in her stomach again. Jealousy. She tried to ignore that feeling but she couldn't. She used to be Mary Margaret's friend. They used to walk together in the forest looking for lost dogs, and now Mary Margaret, or Snow, was with her friend, her true friend. Emma looked at her mother's face and noticed that her eyes had a sparkle that she hadn't seen in the last month.

Snow looked up and she locked eyes with Emma. She gave her daughter a bright smile but Emma immediately looked down fearing that her mother could see the jealousy in her eyes. Snow frowned and walked towards Emma, Red following behind.

Emma remembered how she and Mary Margaret would practically spend the weekends together just talking or walking in the beach or the forest. She missed her friend, and a part of her was angry that she never got the chance to say goodbye to her.

"Emma?" She heard her mother call her.

Emma looked up and gave Snow and Red a fake smile "hey"

"Are you ok?" Snow asked.

"Yes" Emma said looking down at her phone.

"I heard that you finally know the truth," Red said smiling down at Emma "I am so happy about that"

Snow could feel that her daughter was hiding something so she sat next to her in the swing. Emma looked at Snow who gave her a big smile. "Sure" Emma told Red "I am happy too"

"Did Henry asked you for your permission?" Snow said deciding to change the subject.

"Permission for what?" Emma asked.

"He wants me to teach him how to be a bandit"

"Umm no he didn't ask but sure why not"

"To be honest I am a better teacher" Red said "I was the one who taught Frosty"

Emma looked up at Red with a questioning expression "Frosty?"

"That's how she calls me...long story" Snow said waiving her hand.

Emma looked down at her phone again. "So they have nicknames and everything...how fucking cute" Emma thought.

"Move over" Red told Snow "you had me running around the forest like crazy, I am tired"

"There is no space! Unless you want to sit in my lap" Snow joked.

Red laughed and sat at the grass in front of Emma and Snow "oh I get it now princess, leave the others to sit in the ground while you sit all comfortable"

"You should know your place by now" Snow said with a smirk. Red laughed knowing that Snow was joking.

Emma looked from Red to Snow and her jealousy intensified, she knew that her jealousy was childish but she couldn't help it. She stood up.

"Where are you going?" Snow asked.

"I need to call someone" Emma said

"Oh come on Emma! It can wait. Why don't we enjoy this beautiful day outside" Red said smiling up at Emma "we could teach you a few moves if you want to"

"I don't need to learn how to be a bandit, I know how to take care of myself" Emma said "and I most certainly don't want to be the third wheel" Emma said in an annoyed tone.

Red and Snow looked at each other and then at Emma. Emma turned around and started walking to the back yard.

"Emma?" Snow asked concerned

Emma turned around "I need to talk to Angelica" Emma blurted out. Snow frowned and nodded "ok, we will be out here if you decide to come and join us"

Emma didn't answer she turned around and walked towards the backyard. She knew that telling her mother that she was going to call Angelica was a low blow specifically because Snow had confess that she was jealous of Angelica.

"Did I say something wrong?" Snow asked Red.

Red got up and sat next to Snow "No you didn't"

Snow nodded and looked down at her hands who were playing with her weeding ring. "Why don't you go and talk with her?" Red asked.

"She is talking with Angelica, and I don't want to push her"

"Well I have to go, I have to go help granny or do you want me to stay?" Red said feeling that Snow's humor had changed.

"Oh no Red, you have done enough for me today" Snow said smiling at Red

Red hugged her friend and got up "She you later Frosty"

* * *

Emma walked towards the front yard again because the back door was closed. She was going to have to see the two Bff's again. She saw that Red wasn't with Snow anymore and Snow was looking towards the lake with an unreadable expression. Emma didn't know what came to her but she walked towards her mother and sat down next to her. Snow looked at Emma and gave her a sweet smile and then turned her head towards the lake again.

"Where is Red?" Emma asked.

"She had to go back to Granny's...how is Angelica?"

"I didn't called her," Emma whispered.

Snow looked at Emma and tilted her head "why?"

"She might be busy"

Snow nodded.

"I miss her," Emma blurted out.

"Well you can always call her" Snow said thinking that Emma was talking about Angelica.

"I meant Mary Margaret. I miss her"

Snow looked straight ahead towards the lake again "She misses you too"

"She is gone" Emma said.

"I am still here Emma"

"You are here. Snow White is here but...you took her away from me" Emma couldn't help but say that in an accusatory tone.

"Would you rather not have _ME_ , and have _HER_?" Snow asked fearing her daughter's answer.

Emma didn't answer.

"I am sorry" Snow whispered, "I am sorry you love her more that you love me, I am sorry that you feel like she is gone when she is still here waiting for you, and I am sorry that you feel as if you lost your friend but more importantly I am sorry that I hurt you once again"

Emma had tears in her eyes, she wanted to say something but she couldn't. She wanted her friend, she needed her friend.

"I just want you to be happy Emma. Please just answer my question, would you rather have _HER_ than _ME_?" Snow asked again.

"That's not fair and you know that," Emma finally whispered.

Snow was still in full bandit fearless mode "So it's not fair for me to ask you that, but its fair for you to basically tell me that you don't want me, your mother, and that you would rather have Mary Margaret?"

Emma was surprised for her mother's response, she knew that she wasn't being fair to her, but seeing Snow with Red did not only made her jealous, it also made her upset. "Yes Snow! I'll rather have her! And you know why? Because she didn't abandon me, because she used to care about me, she used to listen to me! She was my best friend and you took her away from me! You told me that you felt bad when you saw Angelica and me together...well guess how I feel when I see you and Red? I know that you are not Mary Margaret but I can't help to see her in you, is like if I were seeing my friend with Ruby and that hurts because I know that she is gone"

Snow took a deep breath, her daughter's words had hurt her again but she knew that she had to be honest with Emma too. She still had Mary Margaret inside her; she could still remember how she felt towards Emma. "You abandoned her too"

"What?" Emma said confused

"You abandoned her too! When you took off in the middle of the night? When you basically abducted Henry?"

"That's different..."

"How Emma? How is this different? If you loved me so much as Mary Margaret why would you leave? If Henry hadn't stopped you, you would've left without turning back. You know that and I know that. So don't come and tell me that you miss me" Snow said sounding just as angry Mary Margaret "do you have any idea how I felt when I realized that you have left? I felt sad, angry and alone. You would've destroyed me if you had left. I loved you Emma, you were like my family even back then"

"I left because I didn't want the curse to be real! I didn't want to lose my friend to the woman who abandoned me! Are you happy now!?" Emma screamed

Snow let a single tear fall, but she immediately cleaned it. She stood up and looked at Emma "I would happily walk to the town line and cross it, if that meant that I could give you who you truly love and want, but I can't. I love you Emma and I would really do it if that made you happy, but I have Neal. And it wouldn't be fair for him. I am sorry that the woman who abandoned you did not only made your life miserable, but she also took your friend away from you. Because that's who I am for you right? I am only the woman who abandoned you. I was supposed to take care of you and protect you, but I couldn't, and I am sorry for that...I am sorry for everything. I miss my friend too you know and I..."

"Let's be fucking honest right now. _YOU_ decided to put me trough that wardrobe not dad, _YOU_ took my friend from me! And you don't miss me as your friend, I could see your face when you were with Red, she is your friend not me" Emma said standing up to face her mother.

Snow looked at Emma and all she could see was anger and resentment, but she also saw a hurt little girl. Snow reached out to grab Emma's hand but Emma jerked her hand back. "No! I know I've hurt you and I apologized for that but do you have any idea what I've been trough? Do you know how it feels to grow up without a mother?"

"Yes, I do" Snow whispered.

Emma apparently didn't hear her mother because she continued "do you know how many times I cried myself to sleep waiting for you to show up and take me from the nightmare that was my life? Do you know how it feels when everybody around you tells you that your parents, the people who were supposed to love you and protect you...just abandoned you in the side of a fucking freeway? I wished to find you for a long time, but as I grew up I wanted to find you to let you know that I've survived without you! I wanted to show you that I was worth it, that I was strong"

Snow knew that her daughter needed to get all that out so she listened to her, no matter that her heart was slowly breaking again.

"And I am! I have an amazing family and I did that all by myself!" Emma said as she composed her breathing. She felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"I am sorry that you had to go trough all that Emma, I had different dreams for you..." Snow said calmly.

Snow's calmness only made Emma angrier "Don't do that!" Emma screamed and a force of magic came out of her striking her mother and making her fall to the ground.

Snow opened her eyes wide, tears immediately filled her eyes. Emma gasped and looked at her mother who was looking at her with a mixture of hurt and surprise. "I am sorry. I didn't..."

Snow shook her head and tears started to roll down her cheeks. She got up and started walking towards the house.

"Mom?" Emma whispered in a broken voice. She couldn't believe that she had pushed her mother again, and now she had actually pushed her enough to make her fall. She wondered if she had finally pushed her enough that she wouldn't want her. Emma ran towards her mother and grabbed her hand. Snow stopped and turned around to see her daughter who had tears in her eyes. Snow's motherly instincts kicked in and she hugged Emma tight. Emma was confused and surprised at the same time. She couldn't believe that her mother was hugging her after she had practically blamed her for everything bad that had happened in her life. "I will always love you Emma, even if you don't want me," Snow said as she let go of her daughter and began walking towards the house again.

Emma stood there breathing rapidly. She walked towards Snow and grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her around "say what you really want to say" Emma said "people always say that you were a fearless bandit who will speak her mind, then go ahead tell me what you really want to say. I know you are hiding something"

Snow jerked her body away from Emma's gasp "I don't want to talk right now" Snow said as she turned around again.

Emma took her mother by the shoulders again and turned her around "don't you dare walk away again. You always want to talk, then let's talk. Say what you want to say, don't be a coward"

Snow closed her eyes and took a deep breath "I don't want to hurt you anymore Emma. Let me go. Right now"

"I won't" Emma said still holding her mother by the shoulders, not letting her move "and you can't make me"

Snow looked up at Emma and gave her a motherly look that make Emma shiver "I can make you, but I won't" Snow said looking back at the house.

Emma flipped her hand and they were suddenly in the middle if the forest and not in front of the house. Emma finally let go of her mother. "You can't run anywhere, you are going to have to talk to me"

Snow didn't say anything she just stood there with her arms crossed.

Emma finally understood why people compared her with her mother, they were both stubborn as hell.

"Fucking say something!" Emma screamed

Snow tried to hold her emotions in, but when she heard her daughter talk to her that way, she lost it. "Don't you dare talk to me like that again!," Snow screamed as she walked towards her daughter. Emma opened her eyes wide taking a step back. "I am your mother and I deserve some respect! Now take me back home"

"I won't" Emma whispered "when you hugged me you said that you loved me but you don't, if you truly loved me you will tell me how you really feel"

Snow breath in and out took another step towards Emma "How do you think I feel Emma!? My daughter just told me that she wanted the cursed version of me, that she would rather have Mary Margaret than me, _your_ mother. How do you think I felt when you told me in the station that I wasn't your mother? How do you think I felt when you told me that everything that had happened was my fault. Since the curse broke all I've tried to do was to get close to you, but you push me back. I want to be there for you Emma! But you don't let me. I understand that you don't want to get attached to people because you have had your heart broken so many times and you are afraid that every person will break it again. I know I have break it, and I am sorry for that" Snow took another deep breath "I have put myself in your shoes Emma and I can't understand how you turned out to be the amazing woman that you are now, but put yourself in _MY_ shoes Emma. How would you feel if you had missed twenty-nine years of Henry's life? And when you finally found him all he does is push you away, not letting you get close to him. It hurts Emma!" Snow said with tears rolling down her checks "It hurts every time I breathe. I loved you when I was Mary Margaret, but no love compares to the love I feel for you as my daughter. Please Emma tell me how would you feel if I told you that I liked my friend Emma, more than you, my daughter? I thought that we were finally going to start over, but apparently we can't. You don't want me and I can't blame you, you were right I was the one who told charming to put you through the wardrobe, and I will do it again, because I know that that decision saved your life" Snow was freely crying now and Emma had tears running down her checks too "please Emma just take me back to the house" Snow pleaded looking down at the ground.

Emma walked towards her mother but Snow took a steep back thinking that her daughter was going to make her talk again "please Emma...I can't...just take me back to my room"

Emma moved her hand and they were back at the porch.

"Mary Margaret I..." Emma whispered walking towards her mother again.

"Really? Mary Margaret? You can't even call me at least Snow?" Snow said with tears in her eyes, she turned around and walked around the house. Emma following behind, she knew she needed to say something to her mother but she didn't know what to say. Snow opened the back door and turned around to see Emma "your father feels bad about not being there for all the father/daughter dances when you were young... If you don't want me at lest you and your father could work things out. He is afraid to tell you that what you said really hurt him." and with that Snow turned around and walked inside the house towards her room.

* * *

Emma stood in the backdoor confused. What did her mother meant by the father daughter dance? Emma sat down at the steps to think about what her mother had told her. "Fuck" Emma whispered remembering what he had said to her parents " _Do you know how it feels to see all my classmates have the father daughter dance while I stood there like an idiot?_ ". She checked her phone and it was only five in the afternoon. She wondered if she should go and talk to Snow, but she decided that they both needed time to cool off.

"Mom?" Emma heard Henry say. He walked towards Emma and sat at the steps next to her.

"I thought you were playing video games with the other two musketeers"

"I was, but they took over the game. It's actually really fun to watch them play against each other...I don't know which one is worst" Henry laughed.

"Oh be easy on them kid, they are practically from medieval times"

"What did you say to her?" Henry blurted out

"What do you mean?" Emma asked as she tilted her head.

"I saw grandma walking towards her room...and she looked sad"

"Oh...I...we just..."

"I know you don't want to talk to me about that but...don't you think you have made them suffer enough? Not that you tried to make them suffer but..."

"Why don't we go inside, I don't know how to feel about my dad and Killian being alone, they might end up fighting or..."

"I forgave you" Henry said looking at her mother "you gave me up and I forgave you, why can't you do the same?"

Emma opened her mouth and closed it again.

"I know that you still can't forgive nor forget it. I know how it feels to know that your own mother gave you up. I know the insecurities that you must feel"

"Henry I gave you up to..."

"Give me my best chance, I know that. But how would you feel if I pushed you away? If I couldn't forgive you? I don't know what happened to you and grandma...but she loves you mom"

Emma didn't answered, she looked down at the floor. She couldn't believe that her teenage son was practically giving her a lecture.

"Why was it easier to forgive gramps? I see how you talk to him and how you joke around with him"

"I don't know. I guess my relationship with Snow is more complex because I knew her as Mary Margaret first"

Henry nodded realizing what his mother had said to his grandmother "you told her that you want Mary Margaret back?"

Emma looked at Henry with wide eyes, how did he know? "I...maybe"

Henry frowned "I don't get it. You have been waiting to have your parents for so long, and once you have them you don't want them? It is as if I've gone and find you just to tell you that I didn't want you that I wanted someone else but you"

Emma closed her eyes just thinking of Henry telling her that made her heart shrink.

"Don't say that." Emma whispered.

"I don't feel that way and you know that. I haven't gone trough all this just to let you go again. I love you and you know that...I was afraid too you know?"

"Afraid of what?" Emma asked.

"Afraid that you would leave me again"

"Oh Henry" Emma whispered as she felt tears in her eyes again.

"I was also mad at my other mom for lying to me. For a while I wanted to blame her for everything bad that had happened. But I realized that everything she had done was to keep me with her, because she loved me. I won't deny that you both had hurt me one way or another, but what I've wanted all my life was to have a family and I wasn't going to waste my time being angry or afraid. The love that I fell for you and my other mom was stronger than the fear. I know mom. I know it's hard to forget and it's even harder to let go of the fear, but once you do love will make all your fears and insecurities fade away"

"What if it's to late? What if I had damage my relationships with her to no repair"

Henry smiled at Emma and took her hand in his own "You really don't know how much they love you, do you? Would you love me any less if I said horrible things to you?"

"Of course not"

"That's how they feel about you. That's how grandma feels about you. It's not to late mom, they are still right here. You only have to let go of your fear"

Emma smiled and hugged Henry "are you sure you are my son?"

"I ask myself the same question sometimes" Henry said as he hugged his mother back

Emma laughed and let go of Henry "what do I do now to make it up to them?"

"Oh, I don't know, _you_ are their daughter so _you_ figure it out"

 **Hope you guys liked it! And sorry for making Snow suffer again but I really wanted Emma to express how she felt about losing Mary Margaret. Only 2 chapters left! (I think)  
**

 **Don't forget to leave a review! :)  
**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry for the late update but I was writing something else *wink* hint hint. I hope you guy like this chapter!  
**

 **So I started writing this fic to help me get trough the hiatus, so thank you all for reading it and specially thanks to those who leave comments! I can't wait for tomorrow to watch the new Dark One!**

* * *

Henry got up and walked inside the house again leaving Emma with her thoughts. She needed to talk to her mother, but what could she say after telling her that she wanted Mary Margaret more? She did miss her friend, but she loved her mother too.

"There you are" Emma heard her father called her.

"Oh, hey dad" Emma said as she got up and walked towards her father.

"Are you ok? You seem preoccupied"

"I'm fine, so what's up?"

"We are going to go get some food from Granny's, do you want anything?"

"The usual" Emma smiled at David and walked towards him to give him a hug.

David was a little surprised at first but hugged Emma back "are you sure you are ok?"

Emma smiled up at her father "yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, I just want to make sure that you are ok"

"Yes, I am" Emma said as she let go of her dad "Dad? Can I ask you something?"

"Anything" David answered smiling at Emma.

"Let's just say that you have hurt someone that you love very much, and you want to ask for forgiveness but this wouldn't be first time you have screwed up...and...But you want to show this person that they are important to you, but you don't know how or what to do"

"I knew something was wrong" David smiled at Emma "I would say, do what your heart tells you to do"

Emma signed in frustration, his answer wasn't helpful but her question wasn't clear either. "I told mom that I wanted Mary Margaret back and not her," Emma finally blurted out.

"What? Why!? Why would you say something like that to her Emma!" David said surprised "I thought you had said everything to us already"

"I thought that too! But when I saw her with Red being all bffs with her, it just...I don't know! It brought something up"

David ran his hand trough his hair "Do you really want Mary Margaret more than your mother?"

Emma looked down at the floor; she had mixed emotions about this.

David let out a sigh "You don't know do you? Emma I know that it must have been hard for you to realize that your best friend was your mother. But she can be your best friend _and_ your mother, you don't have to choose. I know because she is my best friend and my wife"

"I think our relationship is a little bit more complicated than that" Emma said "so what do you suggest?"

"I think you need to get your emotions at check first" David said as he hugged his daughter "I know this has been hard on you Emma, but it has been hard for her too" David let go of Emma and took her chin and raised it so they could make eye contact "your mother loves you, and she will never change you from anybody"

Emma frowned and David smiled down at her "she has a really nice friendship with Red, but she loves you more. You are her baby"

Emma turned tomato Red, her father had seen trough her. He knew that she was jealous of Red. David bit his lower lip trying not to laugh at Emma's face expression. "I think is cute that you are jealous and possessive of your mother" David teased.

"Shut up" Emma whispered and took a steep back. David couldn't take it any longer and laughed.

"It's not funny dad!" Emma said in a whiny voice, making herself sound like a kid.

"Awww" David said "you sounded so cute"

Emma crossed her arms and stick her tongue out making David laugh. Emma realized that sticking her tongue out was making this even more embarrassing. She walked up to her dad "you should be the one worried about mom's relationship with Red" Emma teased jokingly "she could steal her from you" and with that Emma walked inside the house.

"Wait, what do you mean?" David asked with a confused face.

It was Emma's time to laugh at her father's expense. "They are lesbianing together," Emma said in the best serious tone she could manage.

David's eyes went wide and he turned tomato red. Emma laughed harder and walked up to her dad "I'm just kidding...well I think I am...anyways you should never tease me again, I give as good as I get. And you should never _ever_ tell anybody that I was jealous of Red"

"So you are admitting that you were jealous?" David smiled at Emma.

Emma opened her mouth and closet it again "you know what? Because of that you will stay here and me and the other two musketeers will go and get dinner" Emma said and she turned around and walked towards the living room.

"Lesbianing together?" David whispered before walking towards his room. He knew that Snow needed him now.

David walked into his room and saw Snow sitting at the bed with her back resting in the headboard. She looked confused and sad at the same time. He walked towards her and climbed in the bed next to her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and brought her to his chest. Snow wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I love you Snow" David whispered as he kissed her temple. "I will always love you"

"I love you more Charming" Snow said as she snuggled closer to David.

"Emma told me what happened" David said.

Snow didn't answer she only hugged David tighter. "She needs time Snow, and she needs to figure out her emotions. It must have been hard to have you as her friend first "

"I know" Snow said against David's chest "I always had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before she told me how she felt about losing Mary Margaret, but I never thought it will hurt this much"

"She will come around Snow, you just have to be patient" David whispered as he ran his hand up and down Snow's back. Snow nodded.

They continued snuggling in bed for a long time until David remembered what Emma had told him. "So you and Red are back to best friends mode?"

"What do you mean? We were never in a non-friends mode" Snow asked confused "she actually made me remember who I am"

"Why don't you go marry her!?" David said in a pretend angry tone "I could've remind you who you are"

Snow smiled and leaned back to look at her husband "and who am I?"

"Emma and Neal's mother" David said caressing Snow's check "my wife, my true love"

Snow blushed and leaned up to kiss David, she gave him a quick sweet kiss.

"I've missed this" David said.

"What?"

"Me and you together like this, these last couple of weeks have been...hard. Now that I think about it we haven't had a nice quiet moment for us, just the two of us"

"I know, and I am sorry. We both were trying so hard to stay strong for one another that we might've forgotten than we are stronger when we are together"

"That we are my love, we literally share a heart" David said with a little laugh.

"I still can't believe we pulled that off," Snow laughed.

"You did killed me though" David teased "and you need to make it up to me" David said with a little pout.

"Aww, I will buy you some flowers and a box of chocolates to make it up to you" Snow joked.

"I am not that cheap...and I might have an idea of how you can make it up to me" David said as he caressed Snow's checks "but I need to ask you something first, were you lesbianing with Red?"

Snow opened her eyes wide "what!?, lesbianing? What does that even mea...oh I get it now...wait what? Why would you ask that?" Snow said with a frown.

"Never mind" David laughed.

"You need Jesus, that's what you need" Snow joked "and tell me Charming how do you want me to make it up to you?"

"You know" David said kissing Snow's forehead "I need a little bit of loving"

* * *

Emma, Hook and Henry went to Granny's to get dinner. Emma walked in and saw Regina, Belle and Red sitting at a booth.

"I have to be honest, it is hard to see the evil queen being all friendly with those two" Killian whispered to Emma as they walked inside of Granny's.

"I heard that" Henry said "and can we please drop the E word"

"Sorry mate, old habits die hard" Killian apologized.

"Oh hey you!" Red called Emma "get in here"

Emma signed "why don't you boys order our food while I go and see what they want?"

Emma walked towards the ladies. "Hi"

"Hey Emma" Belle said smiling up at Emma "please take a sit"

Emma sat down next to Regina "Soooo what up?" Emma asked Red.

"Really?" Red asked, "You have to tell us how it went with your parents"

"Red told us that you finally know the truth" Belle said "I am so happy for all of you"

"Ummm thanks" Emma said feeling a little uncomfortable.

"So where are your parents?" Regina asked.

"They stayed at home with Neal"

Regina tilted her head and gave Emma a reassuring smile "It will take time for things to go to normal again"

"I don't thing they were ever normal" Emma whispered.

"How is Snow?" Regina asked.

Red couldn't help but smile at that "aw, you do care about her"

"I was just being polite" Regina defended herself.

Emma gave them a little smile "you should ask Red, she was with her all day" Emma simply said.

Red frowned and looked at Emma "did I miss something?" She felt as if Emma was angry at her again.

Emma got up "No, sorry. I'll talk to you guys later"

* * *

Emma and the boys returned home with the food.

"So, when do you think it will begin to snow?" Henry asked as they walked into the kitchen "I kind of want the lake to turn into ice, we will have our own ice rink in front of our house"

"I say it will start soon mate"

David walked in the kitchen "thank god! I am starving," He said as he looked for his plate.

"Where is grandma?" Henry asked.

"Oh, she is not feeling well. She is sleeping right now," David explained.

Emma frowned and looked down at the floor. She knew that her mother was probably avoiding her and she couldn't blame her.

David saw his daughter's expression and walked up to her. "She loves you Emma" David whispered "she is just tired, it has been a long day, you can talk to her tomorrow"

"Ok" Emma whispered back to her dad.

They had a pleasant dinner together thanks to Killian and Henry feeling that there was something going on between Emma and her parents again and making an extra effort to talk about something else.

"Why don't you help me wash the dishes dad?" Emma asked David.

"Sure" David answered. "I wash you dry"

"Deal"

Henry and Killian went to their respective bedroom to take a shower, leaving father and daughter alone.

"So dad, I have to umm...tell you something" Emma said as they began to work together.

"Sure go ahead," David said.

"What I said in the station...about you not being there for the father/daughter dance...I am sorry" Emma said looking at her father.

"Don't worry about it Emma" David whispered.

"I actually need to worry about it because I hurt you...I never meant to hurt you...I was just..."

"Hurt, you were hurt, and people say hurtful things when they are hurting" David said giving Emma a little smile.

"You haven't said anything hurtful and you were hurt to" Emma said

"How could I say hurtful words to one of the most important people in my life?"

Emma let out a grunt "why do you have to say that? That is so not fair...I am trying to apologize here...I am trying to make you talk so you can let the hurt out, and you...you just...you are so...charming?"

David smiled down at Emma and gave her the last dish to be dried "I have to honor my nickname"

Emma took the plate and shook her head. She finished rising it and looked at her father with a pointed look.

David felt uncomfortable under her daughter gaze "What?" He finally asked.

"Listen I am as good with this talking thing as you are, so help me out and say what you really want to say. Don't sugar code it. I am a big girl, I can take it"

David looked down as he took a deep breath in "That's the thing Emma, as you said you are a big girl and you don't really need us anymore. I won't deny that I don't feel bad about not being there for the father/daughter dances because since the day your mother told me that you were going to be a girl, I actually dreamed about having that important dance with you and I missed all that, and I am upset and hurt about it. I missed so much in your life Emma. I was supposed to take care of you Emma, I was supposed to chase the monsters away and I didn't get to do that...you didn't get to experience that either"

"Yes, we missed a lot of things and milestones and I feel bad about it too. But you practically gave your life for me when you put me through that wardrobe. I know I haven't really thanked you for that so...thank you. You showed me what true love is. We might not have your topical daughter/father relationship, but I like it this way. We have been trough a lot together, crazy psych teens, ice ladies, green witches, and trough all that you stood by my side all the time. You protected me, you made me feel safe and I thank you for that...when you are close I know that things will turn out ok...I know that nothing bad will happen to me while you are by my side. I have never felt this towards anybody in my entire life and I guess that's how I am supposed to feel. You have literally chased monsters for me and with me, you have made me feel safe and the adventures that we've had together are better than your typical family, so yes we missed a lot of things, but we also gained much more" Emma said looking at her father with a smile in her face.

David walked up to Emma and brought her not so little girl into a tight hug. Emma rested her head in her father's shoulder "I will never stop needing you dad"

David let a happy tear fall "I love you princess"

"I love you too, dad" Emma whispered and for the first time she didn't felt awkward saying those words, after all she had been waiting to say those words all her life. She closed her eyes and hugged David tighter "why don't we focus on the present? I've been tired of living in the past," Emma said as she let go of her father.

"Deal, we will make the most of what we have now" David smiled at Emma.

"We can still continue with that tradition of you bringing me bear claws though" Emma joked.

"As long as you don't tell your mother"

Emma shrugged "not that she wants to talk to me after all the things I said to her"

"You were hurt Emma and she knows that. You have an special connection with her and I am sure you two will fix everything"

"I don't know how" Emma confessed.

"Just be with her, that's all she ever wanted...to be close to you" David said

"I don't know how"

"You don't know if you should treat her as your mother or your friend" David stated.

"I guess"

"She can be both. You just have to try it"

"It's going to be awkward though, like what do I say to her?"

"Oh, I don't know, _you're_ her daughter, so _you_ figure it out" David said pretending to use a harsh tone.

Emma opened and closed her mouth "wait what?"

David laughed "your mother told me about that"

"Not fair, not fair at all. Henry told me the same thing today. Has she told everybody about that?"

"She was really proud of herself to act all motherly scolding you when she didn't know that you were her daughter"

"I have to be honest I felt like a child when she snapped at me like that" Emma confessed.

"That's because you are _her_ child and she cares about you"

"Yes, go ahead make me feel better" Emma said sarcastically.

"I didn't mean it like that and you know it" David said taking Emma by the shoulders "everything is going to be ok Emma"

"I hope so" Emma said

"Now go to sleep young lady" David said kissing Emma's temple "I will see you tomorrow, good night"

Emma closed her eyes when her father kissed her temple, she really enjoyed finally having a father "night dad" she whispered.

* * *

David walked into the room and saw that Snow was cradling Neal in her arms, he walked up behind her and hugged her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "How was your little nap? Do you feel better? Are you hungry?"

"It was good and no, I am not hungry," Snow said looking down at Neal.

"You need to eat something," David whispered, not wanting to wake up Neal.

"I am not hungry" Snow responded "I will eat tomorrow"

David took Neal from Snow's arms and kissed him in the temple as he had kissed Emma no long ago. He placed Neal in his crib and turned around to face Snow.

"You need to eat something Snow" David said as he walked up towards his wife "you were running all afternoon"

Snow wrapped her arms around David's neck and looked up at him "thank you for worrying about me Charming, but I am really not hungry"

David gave her a charming smile "do you have something else in mind?"

"I might" Snow answered giving David a peak in the lips.

"Don't be a tease" David pouted.

Snow laughed and gave David a passionate kiss.

* * *

Emma walked towards her closet to get her pajamas out. Siting at the bottom corner of the closet was the box that the Hierros had given her. She sat down in the floor and pulled the box out. She realized that she hadn't showed her parents the pictures, or her baby clothes.

She wondered how her parents would react if she showed them her pictures and baby onesies. It might be a bittersweet moment for all of them. She hadn't watched the DVDs either so she didn't really knew what was in them. She knew that the Swans had send her videos of her when she was a baby, but she couldn't watch them, she could still remember how she felt when they gave her up. She was too young to understand why they were saying good-bye to her, but old enough to know that she wasn't going to see them again. She took the photo album out and scrolled trough the pictures. She smiled when she saw herself as a two year old holding a Disney book full of fairy tale stories. She continued looking at the pictures realizing that she hadn't really finished seeing all the pictures. There were pictures when she was a newborn wearing the onesies that said, _"I am my daddy's girl and my mommy's world"_.

Apparently the Swans had a passion for photography because there were quite a lot of pictures of her. She continued to look trough the photos and gasped when she saw a photo of herself sleeping while holding the Snow White doll, she was approximately one year old. She took the photo out and held it in her hands. She placed the photo in the floor next to her and continued to look trough the pictures until she found another photo of herself smiling brightly at the camera while hugging the same doll, this time Emma let out a little laugh. Fate was a bitch. She took the photo out of and placed it next to the other.

"What do you got there?" Killian asked.

"Oh, nothing, just some old pictures" Emma said as she closed the photo album. She placed the two photos on top of the album and closed the box pushing it back in the closet. She got up and smiled at Killian.

"Why are you giving me that smile?" Killian asked suspiciously.

"I just want to thank you for being here for me trough all this craziness" Emma said as she walked closer to Killian.

"I don't mind a little bit of craziness. And to be fair I knew that your life was...interesting, since the first day I meet you" Killian said taking Emma's chin "that actually made you more attractive"

"Really?" Emma asked raising her eyebrow "you saw my messed up life and you were attractive by it?"

"All I saw was a strong woman who had been trough a lot and still stood up proud and strong" Killian said looking deeply into Emma's eyes.

Emma blushed a little and smiled at Killian. She couldn't believe how far they have come. "I didn't like you at first" Emma said as she wrapped her arms around Killian's neck.

"Keep telling your self that Love. I know that you were impressed by me since the first time you saw me" Killian said with a smirk.

"Shut up" Emma smiled and kissed Killian. Killian wrapped his arms around Emma's waist and carried her to the bed.

* * *

 _Emma woke up and looked around, Killian was still sleeping. She yawned and got up of the bed and walked towards the kitchen. She saw her mother in the table drinking what seem like some hot coco, she stood in the kitchen entrance looking at her mother. She was dressed as Marry Margaret._

 _"Ummm...hi" Emma said as she walked inside the kitchen._

 _"Good morning Emma, do you want some hot coco?" Mary Margaret said standing up and walking towards the stove "I saved you some"_

 _Emma looked at her mother with a questioning expression, she was not only dressed as Mary Margaret but she sounded and acted like her._

 _Mary Margaret poured some hot chocolate into a coup and gave it to Emma "do you want to sit?" Mary Margaret asked._

 _Emma sat next to who she believed was her mother._

 _"Why are you looking at me like that?" Mary said as she tilted her head to the left to see Emma._

 _"Why are you dressed like that? Is it because of what I said yesterday?" Emma asked._

 _"What are you talking about Emma?" Mary Margaret asked confused._

 _Emma was starting to freak out, her mother wasn't looking as herself, she looked more like Mary Margaret._

 _"Mom?" Emma whispered._

 _Mary Margaret let out a little laugh "You have been expending a lot of time with Henry, or are you making fun of me"_

 _Emma felt as if her blood had turned into ice "Mary Margaret?" Emma said looking at the woman in front of her._

 _"Do you feel ok Emma?" Mary Margaret asked, "you seemed as if you were seeing a ghost"_

 _Emma placed her cup of coco in the table and reached over to hug Mary Margaret "you are back" Emma whispered with a big smile._

 _"I never left. Emma what is going on, you are scaring me," Mary Margaret said as she hugged Emma back._

 _Emma let go of Mary Margaret and looked at her. The woman in front of her was indeed Mary Margaret. Emma's smiled slowly faded away when she realized that Snow, her mother, was gone. She shook her head. Where was her mother?_

 _"This is what you wanted right?" Emma heard a voice say "you wanted your friend back...so she is back"_

 _Emma's eyes filled with tears. She had done this; somehow she had made her mother disappear to make Mary Margaret come back._

 _Mary Margaret saw Emma's expression and brought her into her arms. "Emma, what is going on?"_

 _Emma hugged Mary Margaret tight "I am sorry, I am so sorry" Emma whispered._

 _"Emma I don't know why you are apologizing" Mary Margaret whispered as she held Emma._

 _Emma shook her head "I...I love you Mary Margaret. You were my best friend, you showed me kindness when I needed it the most but...I love her more"_

 _Mary Margaret took Emma by the shoulders and pulled her away from her so they could make eye contact "I love you too Emma, you are my best friend. The only true friend that I have, but I don't know what you are talking about, who is her?"_

 _"My mom, I want her back. All this time I thought that I wanted and needed you more but I need her more. I want you to be my mom again. I want you to know who I am" Emma sobbed._

 _"Emma" Mary Margaret said taking Emma's chin "I am not your mother. Did Henry told you..."_

 _"Please don't say that" Emma sobbed harder and hugged Mary Margaret "please mom, remember me. I can't lose you again. Please don't leave me. I want you and I need you"_

 _"Is too late you have lost her forever. It was your fault. You choose Mary Margaret" the voice said again_

 _Emma hugged Mary Margaret tight, then she heard a voice calling her name and she slowly felt as if she was being transported somewhere else._

 _"Emma wake up. It's just a dream Love" Killian said as he shake Emma by the shoulders "wake up Emma"_

Emma finally opened her eyes and looked at Killian's concerned face.

"Are you ok?" Killian asked.

Emma shook her head and threw herself at Killian's arms. Killian held her to his chest "Everything is ok Love. Everything was a dream, you are safe here"

Emma held to Killian and let her tears fall. Everything was a dream, but it felt so real. She finally knew who she wanted the most...she wanted her mother. The woman who will give up anything to see her happy, the woman who will tell her to stop eating so much sugar, the woman whose only desire was to get close to her daughter.

"You dreamed about your parents?" Killian asked.

Emma nodded "how did you know"

"You started to cry and move all around pleading with someone. You were asking them not to leave you again," Killian said as he ran his hand up and down Emma's back.

"I am sorry I woke you" Emma whispered.

"Don't worry love," Killian whispered as he kissed the top Emma's head. She continued to hold Killian until her cries were gone. She let go of Killian and cleaned her checks.

"Do you feel better now?" Killian asked caressing Emma's check "Everything was a dream love, your parents won't leave again. You will never be alone again."

"Thank you" Emma whispered as she sat in the bed. She was feeling disoriented. This was the most realistic dream she had ever had. She pulled the covers off her and she stood up.

"Where are you going?" Killian asked.

"I just need some water," Emma said as she put her flip-flops on. She turned around and gave Killian a kiss "I am ok now, don't worry. I just need some water and some air. I will be back"

"Do you want me to go with you?" Killian asked.

"No. Thank you but I will be ok. Go back to sleep" Emma whispered "if I need you, I will wake you up"

Killian nodded and Emma stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

* * *

Snow woke when she heard a little cry; she got up and walked towards Neal's crib. Neal was dreaming peacefully. She still felt a little uneasy sensation, as if she was supposed to be somewhere else. She put her slippers on and walked out of her room. She climbed downstairs towards the kitchen. She got herself a glass of water; she wasn't feeling sleepy anymore. She knew that if she returned to bed she wasn't going to be able to sleep so she decided to walk outside and get some fresh air. She took a blanket and walked outside towards the swing. She sat down and wrapped herself in the big warm blanket.

* * *

Emma walked into the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. Her dream had finally made her realize that she did missed Mary Margaret but the mere thought of losing her mother again made her shiver with fear and sadness. She took a deep breath, she needed some air to clear her mind and find a way to talk to her mother. She walked outside the house and stood in the porch, she shivered when the cold wind hit her body. She hugged herself and turned her head to the right towards the swing, and there she was, Snow, her mother. She was looking towards the lake with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Emma wanted to run and tell her mother how sorry she was, but she couldn't move. She felt happiness and apprehension at the same time.

Snow felt as if somebody was watching her, she slowly turned her head to the left and she saw Emma staring at her, with her arms wrapped around herself. Snow gave her a little smile and saw Emma's eyes go wide as if she had gotten caught doing something wrong. Emma turned around and walked inside the house again. Snow let out a breath, and wrapped herself tighter in the blanket. She wondered if she could ever have the relationship that she wanted with her daughter. A good solid relationship. A relationship where they were not only mother and daughter, but also best friends.

Emma walked inside the house, she was breathing rapidly. She knew that she wanted to talk to her mother and tell her that she wanted her as her mother, not as Mary Margaret. Emma always wanted prof or actions that will show her what other people want to prove, and she felt that her mother would want that too. Emma got and idea and ran to her room to get what she needed. She ran towards the front door again and took a deep breath before opening the door "you can do this Emma" She whispered to herself. She opened the door and walked towards her mother; with each steep that she was taking she felt her heart beat faster and faster.

Snow felt that Emma was walking towards her, but she decided not to look up again, fearing that her daughter would run away from her again. Emma sat next to Snow in the swing making her mother heart beat faster by the mere fact that her daughter was close to her.

Emma took a deep breath and turned her head so she could see her mother's face. Snow was still looking towards the lake. Emma didn't know how to start so she stayed quiet. She shivered and regretted not taking a jacket.

Snow noticed that Emma wasn't wearing a jacket and she took the blanket off her and slowly wrapped it around Emma's shoulder. Emma's breath caught in her throat, she couldn't believe that this amazing woman next to her was her mother.

"I don't want you to get a cold" Snow whispered and turned her head towards the lake again.

Emma looked at the Snow White drag doll that she had in her hand and then she looked at her mother. She closed her eyes preparing herself for what she was going to do next, she was going to have a heart to heart to her mother, she was going to share something personal with her. Emma took the rag doll and placed it in Snow's lap.

Snow looked down at her lap and took the rag doll in her hands, she held it up and realized that it was a Snow White doll. She looked at Emma confused.

Emma moved uncomfortably in the swing "That's a Snow White doll" Emma said looking at the doll and not at her mother.

"Yeah, I know that but why are you giving me a Snow White doll?" Snow asked

"I am not giving it to you, I am showing it to you" Emma said

"Oh, ok" Snow said looking at the doll and then at Emma again "but why?"

Emma took a deep breath and looked down at her lap. This was harder than she thought.

Snow sensed her daughter's awkwardness and looked back at the lake again. Emma wanted to tell her mother everything but what she was going to say was super personal.

"What are you doing awake? Couldn't sleep?" Emma asked.

"Yes, kind of. You?"

"I had a nightmare" Emma still looking towards the lake.

Snow turned around to see Emma "do you want to talk about it?"

"Yes...no...maybe?"

"well if you decide to talk about it, you can tell me" Snow said.

Emma nodded and they continued to sit there looking at the lake for a few more minutes. Snow would look down at the doll from time to time; she couldn't believe that the guys at Disney made her look so weak.

"I had that doll when I was a kid" Emma blurted out.

Snow looked up at Emma with a questioning expression "you did?"

"The Hierro family they gave me a box where they placed all the things that they collected from my pass" Emma started "they were able to collect a few things here and there and this doll was one of those things"

Snow nodded and looked at the doll wondering what was the meaning behind all this.

"The nightmare that I had...it was about Mary Margaret..." Emma whispered.

"I am sorry Emma" Snow whispered again thinking that her daughter had had a dreamed where she lost Mary Margaret again.

"I dreamed that Mary Margaret was back. I was so happy to see her waiting for me to have a hot coco with her" Emma said with a little smile.

Snow looked down at the doll again, the wound was still so fresh. She feared that her daughter was going to scream and tell her that she wanted Mary Margaret.

"But then I realized that if she was back...it meant that you were gone" Emma continued with a shaky voice "and it made me realize that I don't want that"

Snow felt as if a little spark in her was burning again, she looked up at Emma but Emma was looking ahead.

"I was so scared to lose you again," Emma said trying to control her emotions "That's why I brought the doll out. I wanted to show you that...I've always" Emma stopped and took a deep breath in and out. She took the photo that showed baby Emma sleeping holding the same exact doll that Snow was holding. Emma gave the photo to Snow.

Snow took the photo and gasped, her eyes filled with tears she ran her finger trough the photo as if she was caressing her baby girl. Emma felt bad for both her mother and herself. She took the other photo and gave it to her mother too. "I was about three in this one" Emma whispered.

Snow took the photo and she smiled down at it. This was the first time she was seeing her baby girl. Emma was a beautiful child.

"I wanted to show you that I've wanted you since I could remember. I've always dreamed of a mother that will care about me, a mother that will love me for who I am. And I finally have that, and I don't want to lose you ever again" Emma said looking at her mother "the Swans also wrote a letter and they told me that I loved Snow White that's why they saved that doll. They said that I couldn't sleep if I hadn't the doll in my arms" Emma said with a little nervous laugh.

Snow felt as if her heart could jump out of his chest. She placed the photos and the doll in her lap and she reached over to hug her daughter. Emma immediately responded in kind and hugged her mother back. "I am so sorry mom," Emma said in a low voice.

Snow hugged her daughter tight "I love you so much Emma"

"I love you more" Emma said as she let go of her mother. Snow smiled and reached out to clean Emma's tears with her thumb. Emma was surprised because she didn't know that she was crying. She shrugged and smiled at Snow.

Emma realized that she had all the blanket to herself. She took the blanket off and gave it to her mother "I don't want you to get sick"

Snow laughed and wrapped herself in the blanket leaving half the blanket to Emma. Emma smiled and rested her head in her mother's shoulder.

Snow smiled and wrapped her arm around Emma covering both of them with the blanket. Emma also smiled and snuggled with her mother. "I don't know if it was clear but I want you to know that I want you, my mother. I won't deny that I miss Mary Margaret but I don't want you to leave ever again"

Snow smiled and kissed Emma's temple "thank you for saying that Emma, and I will never _ever_ leave you alone again"

"I mean it though" Emma said looking up at her mother "I know I hurt you and I am so sorry about that. I shouldn't have pushed you away like that"

"Emma it's ok, don't worry about it. It was worth it" Snow said as she began to swing the swing.

"Why was it worth it?" Emma asked confused.

"Well, we both told each other what we really wanted to say and I got to see your baby photos. And the most important thing is that...you are letting me hold you, as I've always wanted, so yes, everything was worth it for this moment" Snow said as she ran her hand trough Emma's curls. Emma smiled and hugged Snow by the waist, still resting her head on her mother's shoulder. They continued to swing until Emma felt her eyes slowly closing. Snow noticed this and smiled "do you want to go back to bed Emma?"

"What? No, no. I am fine right here," Emma said as she took the Snow White doll from Snow's lap. "She kind of looks like you" Emma teased, "I will buy you a Snow White costume"

"Don't you dare" Snow laughed "so...I was your favorite princess?"

Emma turned pink and hid her face with the blanket. Snow let out a laugh "oh! That is so cute! Come on admit it"

"I deny to answer that question," Emma said.

"Well, I know I was" Snow said feeling happy about herself "can I keep them? The photos?"

Emma looked up and gave her mother a charming smile "of course you can, I have more if you want them"

"You do?" Snow asked excitedly.

"I also have videos...I haven't watched them, but I have some DVDs" Emma said nonchalantly.

"You have videos of you when you were a baby?" Snow whispered feeling her heart beat faster.

"Yeah, we can watch them whenever you want. Not now though."

"Why?" Snow asked.

"Because right now I am really confortable, so you will have to wait" Emma said.

Snow hugged Emma with both her arms as the swing continued swinging. She didn't want this moment to end either, she felt as if she had waited a lifetime to be able to hold her daughter like this.

Emma couldn't believe that she wasn't feeling uncomfortable being all mushy with her mother. She believed that the little girl inside of her wanted to have this moment with her mother.

"I was jealous of Red, that's why I lashed out on you" Emma blurted out without thinking. Once she realized what she had said she opened her eyes wide and covered herself with the blanket again.

Snow was speechless; she didn't know what to say. She was confused and touched at the same time. "Emma?" Snow said trying to take the blanket off Emma's face.

"I wouldn't mind a black hole right now" Emma murmured as she tried to keep her head hidden under the blanket.

"Emma?" Snow said as she continued to try and take the blanket off "come on Emma, it's not a big deal"

"It's embarrassing!" Emma wined "forget I said that"

"I love Red but I love you more Emma" Snow said.

Emma let out a grunt "please just stop. I don't know why I said that."

"Because you felt comfortable enough to tell me that, and I don't want to ruin that so if you don't want to talk about it, we will not talk about it" Snow said "but just to be clear, there is no one, and I mean no one that I love more than you, your brother, Henry or your father"

Emma finally uncovered her face and she looked up at Snow who had a big bright smile "ugh! Stop it!" Emma wined again.

"You have made my day" Snow confessed with the same big smile.

Emma couldn't help but smile back at her mother. It was nice to see her smiling again. "Sorry for lashing out of you because of my childish and stupid jealousy"

"You need to stop apologizing about that. In that case I am sorry for everything that happened in your life because of me. I am sorry you feel unwanted for so long and I am sorry for not being there for you"

"But you are here now and that's all that matters" Emma said "and we will never be apart again"

"Never" Snow repeated "now the thing about Red..."

"Oh my god! I knew you weren't going to let that go," Emma laughed

"Ok, ok, I will let that go" Snow laughed.

"It's getting a little cold out here, why don't we go inside?"

"Yes, so you can show me what is in that mysterious box of yours" Snow said as she got up and gave Emma a hand.

"Hold on, I never said anything about showing you the box" Emma said "I might show you the pictures but not everything"

"At least I tried" Snow said as they walked towards the house.

"Why don't you go wake up dad" Emma said as they walked inside the house "just tell him that I am going to show you some photos and that he can come see them if he wants"

"Oh he will want to see them too" Snow said "look at you being all considerate to your father, so cute!" Snow teased

"Really? Do you really want to do that right now?"

"Sorry, sorry" Snow said raising her hands in surrender "I will go get your father wile you go get the photos"

Emma walked towards her room and Snow walked towards the stairs.

Snow walked inside her room carefully not to wake up Neal. She walked towards the left side of the bed where charming was sleeping. "Charming?" Snow whispered in David's ear.

David turned around and slowly opened his eyes "what is it Snow?" He said half asleep.

"Emma is going to show me some videos of herself when she was a kid...do you want to watch them with us? Snow whispered knowing the answer already.

David immediately sat up in the bed "what videos, yes I do, right now?"

Snow let out a little laugh and gave him a peak in the lips "Let's go downstairs" she said as she took David's hand.

"Wait what happened? Did you and Emma talk?" David asked, as he was basically being pushed out of bed by Snow.

"Yes, we did" Snow said as they walked outside the bedroom "I went outside to get some fresh air, and Emma apparently needed some air too. So we started talking and now...I think we are good" Snow finished with a smile.

"I am happy for the both of you" David said as they sat down in the sofa "so where is Emma? And do you know what videos we are going to watch?"

"She said that her first family send her some videos. So I think we will see our baby" Snow said as she snuggled next to David.

David wrapped an arms around Snow's shoulders "I can't believe this. We are going to see our baby"

Emma walked back to the living room with the photo album and the dvds. She saw her parents snuggled up in the sofa and smiled, she would always wonder what it would be like to have parents that loved each other, and now she knew how that felt, and it was awesome.

"Really? Get a room" Emma teased as she walked towards her parents.

David looked up towards Emma and gave her a charming smile "thank you for doing this Emma. It means so much to us"

"I know, so where do I sit?"

"Here next to me" Snow and David said at the same time.

Emma looked at both her parents who were now looking at each other.

"I said it first" David said looking at Snow "and she likes me more soooo"

Snow raised her eyebrow "oh really you want to go there?" Snow reached for the photos that were in the coffee table in front of them. She have David the photos where Emma was hugging the Snow White doll "here, she liked me first"

David looked down at the photos and up at Emma. "This is amazing," he whispered.  
Emma smiled down at her father "I have more in this album if you want to see them.

"Yes!" Snow and David said again.

"Come sit between us" Snow said as she moved over to give Emma some space to sit.

Emma sat between her parents and gave the photo album to Snow and the DVDs to David. "You two decide what you want to see first"

"Oh, that is just not fair" David said taking the DVDs as if they were the most precious thing in the world.

"Let's watch the videos first," Snow said as she held the photo close to her.

"Just so you know, I haven't watch the videos either so I don't really know what is in them" Emma said as she got up to put the dvd in.

"Why haven't you?" David asked.

"I don't know" Emma said, she knew that a part of her wanted to wait and watch the videos with her parents. Emma sat back down between her parents "ok here we go" Emma said as she took a deep breath and pressed play. Both Snow and David took a deep breath too.

 **So every angst moment that I write has a purpose, I don't make the characters suffer just for fun (even though I enjoy doing it). The next chapter will be long too and full of family charming fells!**

 **Don't forget to leave a comment! :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait, this chapter is going to be long to compensate for my absence.**

 **I believe I said that this chapter was going to be the last one for this fanfic, but is not, the next one will be the last one.**

* * *

"Just so you know, I haven't watch the videos either so I don't really know what is in them" Emma said as she got up to put the dvd in.

"Why haven't you?" David asked.

"I don't know" Emma said, she knew that a part of her wanted to wait and watch the videos with her parents. Emma sat back down between her parents "ok here we go" Emma said as she took a deep breath and pressed play. Both Snow and David took a deep breath too.

 **Chapter 21  
**

 _The video started to play and a young man appeared in the screen "I think it is recording" he said._

 _"Is the red light on?" A female voice was heard._

 _"I believe so," the man said as the camera moved and a woman with a baby in her arms appeared._

 _"So this is you Emma," the man said "this is your first day home with us" the man moved closer to the woman and baby Emma appeared._

Snow and David let out a breath that they didn't know they were holding. Their baby girl was right in front of them.

"My baby" Snow whispered.

 _The camera focused on baby Emma and she slowly started to open her eyes "oh look she is waking up" the woman whispered "hi, Emma"_

Emma moved in the sofa uncomfortable. She knew that those people had given her up when they realized that they were going to have their own kid.

 _The video continued for a couple of minutes showing little Emma looking up at the two strangers._

Snow didn't know how to feel, she was happy that she finally had the chance to see her baby girl, but at the same time her heart hurt knowing that she never had the chance to hold her baby in her arms for more than five minutes.

The video went blank and both Snow and David turned around giving Emma questioning looks.

Emma pointed back at the TV and a new video was shown. A six-month-old Emma appeared, she was holding the same snow white doll that was currently at the coffee table.

Emma gasped and looked at her mother. Snow smiled back at her daughter and continued to watch the videotape.

 _"We just got her that doll two weeks ago and she won't leave it out of her sight" the voice of the woman was heard behind the camera "here take this"_

 _The man took the camera and the woman walked up to Emma. Emma smiled up at the woman but she continued to play with her doll's hair. The woman winked at the camera and whispered, "watch this"_

 _The woman took the doll away from Emma carefully not to hurt her. Little Emma looked up at the woman and pouted. "Don't you want to play with mommy instead Emma?"_

 _Emma's lower lip started to quiver and she began to breath rapidly._

 _"Aww, she looks so cute!" The man said_

 _"Come on Emma, do you like Snow White better than me?" The woman asked as she lowered her face towards Emma._

 _Little Emma reached her little arms towards the woman. "See she wants me!" The woman said._

 _The man laughed "I think she wants her doll"_

 _The woman looked down and saw that Emma's arms were reaching towards the doll. "Really Emma? Come on I am your mother"_

 _Emma frowned and let out what could be described as a scream and a cry at the same time. The woman immediately gave the doll back to Emma; the little girl held the doll close to her and gave her a kiss in the head._

 _"Remind me never to take Snow White away from Emma," the man said as he laughed, "she really loves her"_

 _The woman crossed her arms in pretend annoyance. She looked down at the little girl and said, "You really want Snow White close to you at all times don't you? Good luck to whoever tries to take her away from you"_

 _The_ TV went blank again.

Emma couldn't help but let a tear fall down her cheek. Someone did take her mother away from her, and she wouldn't let that happen again. She would fight hell if it meant being with her parents.

Snow had tears of her own, she looked at Emma and saw that her daughter was crying. "Oh sweetheart" Snow whispered as she hugged Emma "I know baby, I know" Emma rested her head on her mother's shoulder and let another few tears fall.

"I love you Emma" Snow said as she cleaned her daughter's tears with her thumb. She kissed Emma in the temple and hugged her closer. She wanted Emma to feel safe and loved.

David looked at his girls and rested her hand in Emma's knee. He looked towards the coffee table and reached out to take the Snow White doll.

"Is this the same doll?" He asked

Emma couldn't answer; she knew that she wouldn't be able to speak.

"Yes, it is" Snow answered as she ran her hand up and down Emma's back.

"Wow" David whispered as he held the doll in his hands. This doll was his baby's doll. "Can I keep it?" He said knowing the answer.

Emma immediately let go of Snow and snatched the doll away from David "mine" she said as she hugged the doll.

David smiled, he had received the reaction he was waiting for. Snow looked at David and then at Emma, she smiled knowing that her husband was hoping for that reaction "that was low David" Snow said as she cleaned her tears.

Emma finally realized why her father had asked that. She blushed and sat back at the sofa with her arms crossed. She couldn't believe that she has actually fallen in that trap. Her father wanted to embarrass her?

David looked at Emma sitting back in the sofa with her arms crossed with the doll between her arms. He smiled. Emma looked so young in that position. He couldn't help it, he reached out and tried to take the doll away from her.

Emma uncrossed her arms and grabbed the doll "don't you even dare dad" she said looking at David.

"Sharing is caring Emma" David said as he pulled the doll again.

Emma looked at David and she let go of the doll, she smiled mischievously at him. He wanted her to act like a kid? Well she was going to act like one.

Emma turned around and pouted to Snow "He took my doll" Emma said in what she could beat describe as her kid voice.

Snow smiled at Emma and gave David a harsh look "give her the doll back David"

David knew that Snow was in full mama bear mode but it was too much fun to end it "nah, I am good"

Emma turned her head around and saw that David was hugging the doll to his cheek "It is mine now" he said looking at Emma with a smirk on his face.

Emma raised her eyebrow and turned around towards Snow again. She needed a new strategy, and she knew exactly what to do. "Mama..." Emma whispered looking up at Snow with a little pout on her face. She was actually enjoying this, she felt as if they were making up for lost time.

Snow felt as if her heart could explode right there, her daughter had called her mama. Snow got up and stood in front of David.

David looked at Emma with his mouth open "that was just not fair" he whispered to Emma.

Emma smiled up at Snow, she was in full mama bear mode, she tilted her head and smiled at her dad "you wanted to play this old man" Emma whispered.

"David, give me the doll" Snow said.

David knew that Snow was in full mama bear mode, so he gave her the doll not before sticking his tongue out to Emma. Snow saw this and smacked David in the side of his head "don't" she told him.

David's expression was priceless and Emma began to laugh. Snow sat next to Emma again and gave her the doll back. Emma took the doll and looked at David with a proud smile.

David crossed her arms this time "I see how it is, you have a Snow White doll but not a Prince Charming doll? I never knew my own daughter would do this to me"

Emma opened and closed her mouth.

"There are no prince charming dolls David" Snow said.

"Sorry dad, but the people at Disney focus more on the princesses" Emma said

"So you say," David said pretending to be hurt.

"Oh come on dad! I have your genes, I always liked adventures and I love swords so..."

"You are right Emma, you love me more than you love your mother, that has been proven time after time" David said smiling at Snow.

"She never said that!" Snow protested.

"But she was thinking about it" David said nonchalantly.

"Take that back James!" Snow hissed.

Emma looked from David to Snow, she couldn't deny that it actually felt good to see people fighting to see who she loved more, but she loved both the same.

"I love you both the same and you know that, well I hope you know that"

"We know Emma, your father just likes to annoy people," Snow said winking at David.

Emma smiled at her parents and took a blanket that was on the sofa and she placed it over her body. "Do you guys want to watch more videos?"

"Yes" both Snow and David answered.

Emma looked at her mother and gave her a shy smile. Snow wrapped an arm around her daughter and Emma rested her head in Snow's shoulder again, she took the blanket and covered both of them with it.

"Do you want some of the blanket dad?" Emma asked her father.

"No Emma, thanks" David said looking at his two girls.

"OK cool then...here we go again," Emma said as she pressed play again.

 _The video started again and a little one-year-old Emma appeared, she had a pink little princess dress on. Emma was sitting in the woman's lap and she was attentively looking somewhere._

Emma opened her eyes wide regretting not watching the videos before showing them to her parents.

Both Snow and David let out a "aww"

"Shut up" Emma said embarrassed.

 _"What are you two watching?" The man behind the camera asked as he moved closer to Emma._

 _Little Emma turned around and smiled up at the camera. "Snow white and the seven dwarfs... Again" the woman said._

 _"So as you can see Emma, you still love Snow White," the man said as he focused the camera on Emma._

Emma smiled and smuggled closer to her mother. She was a little embarrassed when she saw herself in a puffy pink dress but she knew that this meant a lot to her parents. Snow smiled when she felt Emma snuggling closer to her.

 _"Oh here is her favorite part," the woman said "when prince charming appears and sings to Snow"_

 _Little Emma's eyes dilated when she saw prince charming singing to Snow White, she began to bubble and clap her hands._

Emma shook her head and covered herself with the blanket. Snow let out a laugh and looked at David who had tears in his eyes.

"I knew you like me better," David said trying to make Emma feel less awkward.

Emma lowered the blanket and gave her father a charming smile.

"David, if you want to sleep in the bed you better stop saying that" Snow warned David

"Ok" David said smiling at Snow and winking at Emma "she likes me better tho" David murmured jokingly.

"Yeah sure, keep telling yourself that" Snow said and she wrapped another arm around Emma bringing her closer to her.

"Really guys? Again?" Emma said with a little chuckle.

 _A new clip started to play and Emma was about two years old. She was wearing a light blue puffy dress again._

Emma let out a groan, "what is with this people and dresses?"

"Oh, you look so cute Emma" Snow said as she ran her hand in Emma's hair. Emma was getting a little sleepy now thanks to her mother's hand playing with her curls. She always wondered how it would feel to have a mother who would do that, and now she knew, and it was amazing.

 _"We watching Snow White!" Emma said excitedly._

 _"Oh really?" The man said pretending to be surprised._

 _"Yeah and Emma is really exited because prince charming is going to sing with Snow White" the woman said._

 _Little Emma blushed and shrugged._

 _A man singing voice was heard and little Emma's smile widened._

 _"I don't know how to feel about this," the man behind the camera said._

 _The woman laughed and paused the DVD, a screen shoot of prince charming stayed in the TV "look Emma your prince"_

 _Little Emma smiled and jumped off the sofa and walked towards the TV. She smiled and kissed prince charming cheek._

 _"Emma!" The man said with a little laugh "you shouldn't be kissing boys"_

 _"He is my prince!" little Emma said and she kissed the TV again._

 _"He is so charming isn't he?" The woman said smiling at Emma._

 _"Yes, he is sooo charming! And he is my prince charming" Emma said jumping up and down._

 _"I thought I was your prince," the man said_

 _"No, he is my prince!" Emma said pointing at the prince charming in the TV._

 _The woman pressed play again and prince charming began to sing making Emma clap and laugh in delight._

Emma looked at the TV wide eyed, she had kissed Prince Charming when she was two years old, she had said that he was her prince. Emma turned tomato red and hide her face in her mother's chest covering herself with the blanket.

Snow smiled at David who had the biggest and brightest smile. "Emma?" Snow whispered as she tried to take the blanket off Emma.

Emma hugged her mother by the waist and kept her head hidden. She knew she should've watched the videos before showing them to her parents.

"Oh come on Emma, it was cute" Snow said trying to control her laugh, "so he is your prince huh?"

Emma let out a groan "mom!"

Snow laughed and winked at David.

"Oh come on princess, can't your prince get a hug?" David said.

Emma let go of her mother and hugged her father resting her head on his chest. David smiled and hugged his baby girl back.

"Thank you for showing us this Emma" David said as he kissed Emma's temple.

"If you tell anyone about this..." Emma said

"Oh come on Emma! Of course we want to tell people about this. They need to know that I was your prince first...your pirate should know that" David said as he continued to hold his not so little girl in his arms.

"Dad!" Emma whined "you can't go around the town telling everybody about this!"

"Ok, what if we make a deal?" Snow said "we will only tell this to our closest friends"

"No!" Emma said as she turned around to see her mother "I have a reputation you know"

Snow frowned and crossed her arms.

Emma looked at her father as if asking him what was going on with Snow.

"Oh, she is getting mad" David laughed.

"Guilt does not work with me mom," Emma said as she crossed her arms too.

David laughed looking at the stubborn woman that he loved so very much.

Snow looked at Emma and then looked away in the other direction. Emma looked at her father and David only shrugged.

"Ok, I want to see how long can you stay without talking to me" Emma challenged with a little smile.

Snow bit her lower lip trying not to smile, she could do this right?

Emma smiled at her father "let's make a deal, how long do you think she is going to last?"

"Well she is really stubborn but she loves you so I say three minutes?"

"Nah" Emma said smiling, she knew her mother and she also knew how to get what she wanted "less than a minute"

"You two are so full of yourselves," Snow said.

Emma smiled and whispered at her father "watch this"

"Mama?" Emma said.

Snow turned around immediately and Emma gave her a charming smile. Snow let out a laughed "that wasn't fair at all"

Emma laughed and settled back in the middle of the sofa "I actually chose this video because it said that it were random videos" Emma explained to her parents "umm...because there is this other one of all my first"

Snow looked at David and they shared a look "what do you mean?" David asked.

"You know, my first word, my first step, things like that...I guess" Emma said looking down at the Snow White in her lap "I thought this videos would be less emotional but I was wrong" Emma said with a little laugh "I just feel emotionally drained right now"

"We can finish watching them another day," Snow suggested.

"No, I am good" Emma said as she moved closer to David and rested her head on his shoulder. David smiled and wrapped an arm around Emma's shoulders.

Snow wrapped Emma in the blanket again and kissed her temple.

"Ok, then let's keep watching my baby" Snow said.

"Don't call me that mom" Emma whined as she snuggled closer to David.

"I feel so left out right now" Snow smiled looking at David and Emma.

Emma smiled and extended an arm towards her mother. "Come here princess"

Snow smiled and moved closer to Emma. They intertwined their hands and Snow rested her head on Emma's arm.

They continued to watch the videos. There were videos of little Emma singing in the tub and videos of her playing or running around in the park. Emma had fallen asleep in her father's arms by the time the first DVD ended.

"So cute" Snow whispered as she saw that Emma was asleep.

David looked down and smiled too, he kissed Emma's head and whispered to Snow "should we wake her up?"

"She looks comfortable there, we should let her sleep" Snow said knowing well that David needed this as much as Emma "we should let her sleep with her prince"

David smile grew bigger "I can't believe we saw our little girl, and the fact that she liked us...that is just everything"

"Well she liked the cartoon version of us, but it still means everything" Snow said as she let go of Emma's hand and stood up "I will go check on Neal"

David nodded and hugged his girl with both her arms. Emma smiled in her dreams and snuggled closer to David. About twenty-five minutes passed and Emma began to open her eyes slowly. She was disoriented for a second, the only thing she knew was that she felt safe.

Emma looked up and saw David smiling down at her.

"Shit" Emma whispered embarrassed, she had fallen asleep in her father's arms. She moved away from her father and sat back in the sofa next to him.

"Don't get embarrassed Emma" David told Emma with a reassuring smile.

"Where is mom?" Emma asked trying to change the subject.

"She went upstairs to check on Neal, I think she is still there"

Emma nodded and checked the time "why don't we go and get some sleep?"

"It's already five in the morning" David pointed out.

"We can still sleep for at least another three hours...as sheriff I am giving ourselves the day off tomorrow"

"Today"

"What?" Emma said sleepy as she got up from the sofa "oh, yeah today"

David also stood up "sleep well princess"

Emma hugged David and whispered "good night dad" she let go of David and walked towards her room.

Emma walked inside her room and saw that Hook was looking at her with a grin.  
"What are you doing awake at this hour?"

"Waiting for the princes," Hook said winking at Emma.

Emma let out a groan and climbed into the bed next to Killian who immediately hugged her close to him. Emma rested her head on Killian's chest and wrapped her arm around his waist.

"So you knew who your parents were even before you knew the truth?" Killian asked.

"You watched the videos?" Emma asked looking up at Killian.

"I just wanted to know where you were" Killian explained "and then I saw you all cuddle up with your mother"

Emma blushed.

"Oh come on Love, you don't need to be embarrassed. I am glad that you work things out with them"

Emma smiled and realized that she actually earned the right to be able to cuddle up with her parents. She grew up without parents and now that she had parents who loved her, she should take advantage of that.

"I am happy too," Emma said as she moved up and kissed Killian tenderly in the lips

"I love you Killian"

"I love you more Swan" Killian said as he held Emma in her arms "sleep now"

Emma snuggled up in Killian's arms and she fell asleep again.

Emma woke up and found herself alone in the bed, she checked the clock and it read 10:30. She decided that sleeping for another thirty minutes wouldn't hurt anyone.

She fell asleep again but after ten minutes she heard something. She looked around her and didn't see anybody, then she looked to her left and she saw that the blanket was being pulled off. She smiled knowing who it was.

Emma sat up and moved to the left of the bed, and there he was, her little brother was in his baby walker looking up at her.

"Hey buddy" Emma said "did somebody send you to wake me up?"

Neal smiled and reached his arms towards Emma. Emma picked him up and she lay in the bed again with Neal secure in her arms. "Come on buddy, let's sleep for a little longer"

Neal sat next to Emma and began to touch her face.

"Really" Emma said with her eyes closed and a smile in her face "so you don't want to cuddle? You want to fight?"

Neal began to bubble louder and he rested his head on Emma's shoulder. Emma wrapped her arm around Neal and Neal cuddled closer to Emma.

"This is better right? We can spend all day like this" Emma said.

"Or you can get up and do something productive" Snow said as she leaned against the door with her arms crossed.

Emma took the blanket and covered herself and Neal with it. Neal laughed happily making Emma giggle.

Snow smiled watching her two kids together. She sat next to Emma in the bed and took the blanket off.

"Can't a girl get a few more minutes of sleep?" Emma asked looking up at her mother.

"Its 11:50 Emma" Snow laughed "come on Neal, let's wake up your sister"

Neal looked at Snow and then at Emma and he snuggled closer to Emma.

Emma laughed at her mother's reaction and closed her eyes again kissing Neal's head.

Snow smiled and climbed in the bed next to Neal "if you can't fight them, join them"

Emma opened one eye and smiled at her mother "ten more minutes and then you can wake me up...make it fifteen"

Snow moved closer to her children and embraced them both the best she could. She felt as if her heart could burst with happiness. She was hugging both her children.

Emma smiled when she felt her mother embarrassing her, she couldn't believe how fast their relationship had changed, but at the same time she thought that they had waited enough time to be a normal family.

Emma fell asleep again feeling secure and happy next to her little brother and mother.

Twenty minutes passed and Emma was still sleeping. Neal was sitting between his big sister and mother; he placed a hand on Emma's cheek.

"Neal, let your sister sleep for a little longer" Snow told Neal "she wakes up cranky if you wake her up"

Emma heard that last part and she mumbled something, she opened her eyes and saw Neal smiling at her.

"Are you hungry Emma? Do you want me to make you some breakfast?" Snow asked.

"Yes and yes please" Emma said, "where is Dad?"

"He, Killian and Henry went to the stables. They were going to do some horse riding and sword fighting" Snow said as she stood up "if you want we can go with them"

"I just want some coffee and food" Emma grumbled and stood up taking Neal in her arms.

Snow prepared Emma some coffee scrambled eggs and pancakes. Emma was eating when her phone buzzed; she opened it and saw a text message from Angelica. She smiled down at the phone and answered her right away.

"Who was that?" Snow asked when she saw her daughter smiling down at her phone.

Emma looked up "oh it was just Angelica"

"Oh ok" Snow said as she got up from the table to go and clean the kitchen. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous of Angelica.

Emma knew that her mother was jealous of Angelica; she also knew how it felt to be jealous. "Are you ok mom?" Emma asked as she was finishing her coffee.

Snow looked at Emma and smiled "of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

Emma raised and eyebrow to her mother "well your aura changed when I mentioned Angelica"

"Oh so you can read auras now?" Snow said with a little laugh.

"Mom" Emma said in a serious tone.

Snow knew that her relationship with her daughter was better than ever and that she could really tell her everything. But at the same time Snow didn't want to sound like a clingy and needy person.

"Mom, just tell me what is bothering you" Emma insisted, she knew that her mother was hiding something.

Snow let out a breath and turned around to face Emma "The day at the forest. When I was practicing archery and you and Angelica were walking towards me...you said _'but I love you mom'_ and...listen I am not saying that you shouldn't call her mom, if you want to call her that I will understand. I just..." Snow explained "do you really consider her your mother?"

Emma couldn't help but let out a laugh, her mother was so wrong about what Angelica meant to her.

Snow didn't understood why her daughter laughed so she turned around and continued to clean the kitchen.

"Shit" Emma whispered when she saw her mother turning around. Her laugh must've sound as if she was laughing at her mother.

Emma walked up to Snow and whispered "sorry"

"Don't worry about it Emma" Snow said turning around and giving Emma a little smile "I understand. You grew up with her and of course you see her as a mother. That was a stupid question"

"No it wasn't. It was a fair question. Sorry I laughed but you couldn't be more wrong. Yes, she was a really nice person, she was kind to me and I learned to love her. I love her. But I never loved her as a mother. We even talked about this before she left, we see each other as friends or aunt and niece, but not as mother and daughter. And what you heard in the forest was me imitating one of Angelicas niece, she used to say that to her mother after an argument" Emma explained and took her mother's hands in her own "I never loved anyone as a mother...I guess I was waiting for you to take your place. I was saving that piece of my heart to you. My mother."

Snow smiled and hugged Emma tight "you have no idea how much this means to me" Snow said with a broken voice.

Emma hugged her mother back "I am glad I found you mom"

"I will never let you go again," Snow promised her daughter.

"And I will never leave again" Emma hugged her mother tighter; she didn't want to let her go ever again. Snow started to move as is she was dancing with Emma.

Emma let out a little laugh and began to dance with her mother. Then an idea occurred to her. She gasped and let go of her mother.

"What?" Snow asked.

Emma smiled at her mother and took out her phone. She began to walk out of the kitchen.

"Emma what is going on?" Snow asked as she followed her daughter.

Emma wondered if she should tell her mother her idea. "Umm, I forgot that I had something to do today"

"What?"

"You know stuff"

"What stuff?" Snow looked suspiciously at her daughter.

Emma stopped and turned around to look at her mother "you are such a mom, mom"

Snow smiled proudly

"I have to do something with...Regina" Emma lied.

Snow didn't believe her daughter, she knew that Emma was up to something.

"Ok, I get it" Snow said.

Emma knew that her mother didn't believe her. "I will take a shower and then...I will go and do the thing..."

Snow looked incredulously at Emma "Sure, sure. Do you want me to go with you?"

"No!...I mean no thanks. It will be quick, I just need to..." Emma didn't know what to say, now that she thought about it, this was the first time she had lied to her mother.

"If you don't want to you don't have to tell me Emma, just don't lie ok?" Snow said smiling at Emma, she turned around and walked back to the kitchen.

Emma felt a little bad about lying to her mother but at the same time she knew that her mother would like what she was planning. Emma took a fast shower and headed out to Granny's. She told her mother that she was going to be at Regina's doing something.

Emma walked into Granny's and saw that the girls were waiting for her in a booth.

"Thanks for meeting me here" Emma said as she sat down next to Regina "first of all, I want to apologize if I seemed rude yesterday"

"Don't worry about it Emma" Belle said smiling warmly at Emma.

"So why did you ask us to meet you here?" Regina asked looking at Emma.

"I want to ask you guys for a favor," Emma said shyly.

"What kind of favor?" Red said

"I wouldn't ask you for help, but I don't really know much about the subject" Emma explained "and I am sure you know a lot about...that"

"Oh you are nervous" Regina smiled noticing Emma's body language "this is going to be good"

"But first you have to promise me that you won't tell my parents" Emma said.

"This is getting better and better" Regina laughed.

"Sorry Emma" Red said "I don't really..."

"Is nothing bad, I promise" Emma told Red "me and my parents are actually good...we are great. I just wanted to do something for my dad"

"I already lost my interest in this" Regina said taking a drink of her coffee

"What is it Emma? We will help" Belle said

"Well, the things is that...I said something to my dad, something hurtful and it hurt him...like a lot. I know he doesn't really show it but I know that I hurt him and I never really meant to hurt him but I was upset and..."

"Oh for gods sake! Just get to the point," Regina said

"Regina!" Belle said giving Regina a scolding look "please continue Emma"

"Ok the thing is that I basically blamed him for not being there for the father daughter dances. And I got and idea this morning, you know to make it up to him"

"I like where this is going!" Red said excitedly.

Emma took a deep breath "I want to have a dance so I could dance with him"

Red let out a happy squeal

"You mean a ball? You, Emma Swan , dancing in a ball?" Regina asked incredulously.

Emma flushed a little bit "yes, I want to have a...ball. Is the lest I could do after putting him trough all that"

Regina was taken aback but she smiled at Emma "you must really love him"

"I am totally in" Red said

"Me too" Belle said "it will be good to have a ball"

"I guess I am in too," Regina said.

"Oh my god! This is going to be so good!" Red said excitedly "you have no idea how much this will mean to your parents. Me and your mother actually talked about your fist ball before you were born"

"Aww how sweet" Regina said sarcastically "so when do you want to have the ball?"

"I don't even know how to organize one. That's why I am asking you guys for help," Emma said.

"Oh don't worry about it Emma, we will help you with everything" Belle said

"We could have it at the school Gym, is big enough for everyone" Regina suggested.

"Yes! Me and Belle and the other girls could decorate it as if we were in the enchanted Forest" Red said "and we could go and shop for the dress and everything"

"I don't want neither my mom nor my dad to know anything about this until that day". Emma said.

"You know what will make your mother really happy?," Regina said "if you let her help you get ready for the ball. I remember that she told me that she used to love when her mother would help her with her hair and her dress, and that she couldn't wait to have a daughter to share that moment with her"

Emma smiled at Regina "yes, that would be awesome, so we need to get both my mother and my father the appropriate clothing"

"Don't worry about that, I have plenty of gowns in the shop" Belle said

"And I know what your father and mother like so I can help you chose their clothes" Red said "and we will tell everyone to come"

"But please tell them that they can't tell my parents, I really want to surprise them" Emma said.

"Oh don't worry we will make sure that nobody will tell them anything" Belle assured Emma "so when are you planning to do this?"

"How long does it take to plan everything?" Emma asked.

"Well I can actually help decorate...with magic" Regina told Emma "and you can help with that too"

"Ok, great. The faster the better, because I am starting to get cold feet about this" Emma said with a little laugh. She realized that she was going to have to wear a dress and dance in front of people.

"This weekend" Red said "we can prepare everything by this weekend. We can ask the dwarfs to help"

"Ok then we will do it this weekend" Emma said taking a deep breath in.

"It is sweet that you are doing this for them Emma" Belle said "I am sure they will appreciate it a lot"

"Oh I hope so! I really don't see myself wearing a dress..." Emma said

"Oh is not only about the dress, is the heals and the corset and the fact that all eyes are going to be on you" Regina said smiling at Emma "and since you are hosting the ball you will have to make a speech in front of everyone, thanking them for their presence and..."

Emma went pale "please stop"

Regina laughed at Emma's expression.

"Regina!" Red said "don't worry about that Emma, I will help you with everything. You don't have to give a speech or anything"

"Thanks" Emma said relieved

Red looked that grumpy was just a few booths away from them so she called him and explained everything to him.

"Of course we will help" Grumpy said, "just tell us what you want and we will build it"

"Thank you so much Leroy" Emma said. Her phone buzzed and she saw that it was a text from her mother. "Oh great"

"Who is it?" Red asked

"My mom, she wants to know where I am" Emma said as she answered her mom that she was at Regina's

"Does the princess have a curfew?" Grumpy asked with a little laugh.

Regina laughed, "Should we escort you home princess?"

Leroy and Regina began to laugh louder at Emma's reaction.

They heard the doorbell and Snow and David walked in. Snow saw that Emma was sitting with the girls and frowned. She had just received the message saying that Emma was at Regina's.

Snow walked up to Emma "Emma? I thought you were at Regina's"

Emma jumped when she heard her mothers voice, she turned around and smiled at her mother "I said that I was with Regina" Emma said trying to cove up her lie.

Snow raised an eyebrow at Emma and looked around everyone in the table. She felt as if something was going on with them.

"So you guys are having lunch together?" David asked also looking at everyone.

"Well we are discussing some city projects" Regina told Snow and David "that is why I need them all here"

"Grumpy too?" Snow asked

"Yes Snow, I just don't see myself building the new school library," Regina said.

"Sure" David said, "anyways we are here to get something to eat"

"Where is Neal?" Red asked trying to change the subject.

"He is with Killian and Henry" Snow told red

"First you hire the wicket witch as your nanny and now you leave your child with a pirate?" Regina said "remember me never to ask you for parenting advice"

Grumpy laughed.

"You are supposed to be in my side!" Snow told Grumpy.

"Sorry sister" Grumpy said.

"Anyways we will go and order" Snow said before walking to the counter.

"She didn't believe us" Regina whispered, "believe it or not she is kind of smart"

"She outsmarted you a lot of times Regina" Red said defending her friend "but I also think that she didn't believe us"

"It doesn't matter, we only have to keep this a secret for two more days" Emma whispered, "we can do that, right?"

"We are not the ones living with her," Regina pointed out.

"Oh don't worry I know how to handle her" Emma said.

Snow and David ordered their food and walked back to the girls.

"Are you going to have lunch with them Emma? Or do you want us to order you something to go too?" David asked "Henry want us to have a little picnic in the front yard"

"Oh, yeah no thanks. I think we still have more things to discuss about the project," Emma said looking up at her father.

"Why do you need the sheriff for a school project?" Snow asked Regina.

"Safety reasons" Regina said.

"Mom, why are you asking so many questions?" Emma laughed

"Nothing, sorry. Keep going with your planning" Snow said.

Snow and David sat at the booth behind Emma.

"They are hiding something," Snow whispered to David.

"I know" David whispered back.

"So what else do we need to do?" Emma asked the others.

"Well, we will get the...books from Belle" Regina said emphasizing the word books so the other would know that she was talking about the dresses "do you have enough books?"

"Oh yes, I have plenty so the...children could choose" Belle said.

"Great so Belle you are in charge of the books, Grumpy and the dwarfs are in charge of building it, and Red maybe you could help by telling people about it?" Emma said "and me and Regina will do all the...paper work"

Everybody nodded understanding what Emma meant.

"You can call or text me if you need help" Emma told them.

"Sure, we will" Belle said with a little smile "we can actually take it from here. You can go with your parents if you want to"

"Yes Emma, we will take care of everything" Red said winking at Emma.

"Ok, thank you. Please text me if you need me" Emma said as she got up.

"Will do sister" Grumpy said.

Emma walked to her parents booth and sat down next to her father. "I will go with you guys, granny will put my order with yours"

"Great!" David said smiling at Emma.

Emma looked at her mother and noticed that she was giving her a strange look.

"What is it?" Emma asked Snow.

"Nothing" Snow said looking down.

"Sure" Emma answered.

Granny gave them their food and Emma and her parents got in the car. There was an awkward silence in the car.

"So how is the library project going?" David asked

"The what?" Emma asked, she was distracted looking out the window thinking about the ball.

Snow let out a laugh and shook her head. Now she knew that Emma was indeed lying to them.

"Oh yes, it is going well" Emma said

"Do you need me to help you with anything?"

"Oh no thanks, we are good"

They got to the house and Killian and Henry were already setting the little picnic.

Emma walked out of the car and immediately walked towards Henry and Killian; she didn't want her parents to ask any more questions.

"The food is here," David announced.

"Thank good!" Henry said, "I am starving"

"So what did you guys do this morning?" Emma asked

"Some boy stuff" Henry explained as he took Neal out of the baby walker and sat him down at the blanket.

"Boys stuff? What is that supposed to mean?" Snow asked.

"You know, sword fighting, horse riding, thinks like that" Henry said.

"Well those are not boy stuff kid, women do that too you know" Emma said

"Gramps said that boys were better at it than girls so" Henry said giving David an innocent smile.

"Dude!" David said

Both Snow and Emma looked at David.

"I can crush you like a bug" Snow told David "and you know that"

"Oh my good grandma! The other day we were playing video games and Grandpa said that he was better than you at swo..." Henry couldn't finish because David covered his mouth.

Emma and Hook laughed knowing what David had said about Snow and her abilities at sword fighting.

"Let him speak David!" Snow hissed

David let go of Henry "I can't believe my own grandson would do something like this"

"What did he said Henry?" Snow asked her grandson.

"Nothing, forget it grandma"

"Henry" Snow said using her teacher tone.

"He said that he was better than you at sword fighting" Henry blurted out.

"He did?" Snow said raising an eyebrow.

"He was just joking mom," Emma said trying to save her father "we were just playing you know"

"Sure, just playing" Snow said as she sat down next to Neal in the blanket.

They all sat down at the blanket. Emma was between Hook and Henry and in front of them were David and Snow. Neal was sitting in Snow's lap.

"So Henry" Snow asked "Are you happy about the new library at school?"

Henry looked up and frowned "what?"

Snow smiled mischievously at Emma. "Oh you didn't know?"

Henry saw the exchange between mother and daughter "oh yeah the library! My mom told me about it"

Emma let out a breath, thank good she had a smart son.

"Who told you about it?" David asked "Regina or Emma?"

Henry looked at her mother and a silence conversation passed between them "Regina"

"I just learned about that it today" Emma explained.

"I didn't really understood what they were going to do" David said, knowing that Snow wanted to get the truth, in reality he wanted to know the truth too "so why don't you tell us Henry?"

"Gramps, I don't want to think about school right now" Henry complained. He knew that her mother must be hiding something from her parents.

Killian picked up the situation "What are they doing love?"

"Oh you know, we are going to remodel the library," Emma explained.

Henry knew that the library had been remodeled no long ago, he looked at Emma and smiled, knowing that her mother was planning something.

"Can we please stop talking about the library!? I am on vacation and you are not supposed to think about school right now" Henry said.

Snow still had a feeling that Emma was lying to her. They continued eating and from time to time Emma would notice that her mother would stare at her suspiciously.

Emma's phone rang and she saw that it was as Red, she excused herself and walked inside the house. Red wanted to know if they should decorate only the inside of the gym or the path that lead to the gym too. Emma decided that it will be good if they decorated the outside of the gym too.

"So, maybe we should start by finding you a dress?" Red said "or maybe we can select a few that you like and you can make the final decision with Snow?"

"Yes, I think she would like to help me pick the dress" Emma said "I can't believe I am doing this! She knows that I am hiding something, and she keeps looking at me weird. I feel that if she looks at me long enough she will know"

Red laughed "Yes, your mother can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but she doesn't like when people lie to her. So maybe just avoid the subject so you don't have to lie to her"

"Oh it is easier said that done! She is a control freak!" Emma laughed "and she sees right trough me"

"Yes, she does that" Red laughed

"But is going to be worth it...I hope"

"They will love it!" Red assured Emma "do you know what song do you want to play for the father daughter dance?"

In that moment Snow walked in and saw that Emma was lying in the sofa with her arm covering her eyes.

"Not really...oh good this is harder than I thought! What did I get myself into" Emma whined, "do I have to find one?"

"Or we can chose one for you if you want, or it can be just a waltz" Red said

Snow walked towards the kitchen to leave the left over there, she walked back to the living room and saw Emma in the exact same position.

"I don't know, what do you think?" Emma asked Red.

"I think it will be more special if you chose the song"

Emma let out a breath "I will chose it then" she sat up in the sofa and saw her mother standing in front of her. Emma jumped a little and almost droped the phone. She caught the phone in mid air.

"What was that noise?" Red asked

Emma sat still in the sofa "oh nothing, just my mother scaring the crap out of me"

"Oh my god, did she heard anything?" Red asked.

"No, no..." Emma said "anyways, I will do that and I will call you for your opinion"

"Ok great, and if you want to you can chose a song for the mother daughter dance too." Red said.

"Oh so there are two?" Emma asked looking at her mother who had her arms crossed.

"Well if you want to, is up to you," Red said

"Ok cool, I will do it...I will call you if I need anything, and you can call me if you need anything" Emma said before hanging up.

"Is not ok to listen to others people's phone calls" Emma told Snow a little annoyed.

Snow uncrossed her arms "sorry, is everything ok? Do you need help with anything?"

"No, I am good" Emma said as she stood up.

"I don't like when people lie to me Emma" Snow said

Emma turned around "and I don't like when people question me"

"I am not questioning you"

"Why are you acting like this!?" Emma said raising her voice a little bit.

Snow blinked and took a steep back "sorry, I won't ask you anything anymore...I just wanted to make sure that you were alright" Snow walked towards the front door and walked out of the house.

Emma took a deep breath this was going to be harder than she thought. She walked out towards the front yard and saw that Hook and Henry were sword fighting with some wooden swords, Snow and David were in the porch steps and David had Neal in his lap. Emma passed through her parents and gave them a little smile.

Emma walked towards the boys, she needed to tell them her plan so they could help her out.

"I need to tell you guys something, but act cool as if I wasn't telling you anything important" Emma told the boys as they continued sword fighting.

Henry looked at her mother suspiciously and nodded "is this about the fake library thing?"

"Yes, kind of" Emma said.

Henry looked towards her grandparents and saw that they were looking directly at them "Ok mom is your turn!" Henry said giving Emma the sword.

"Wait what?" Emma said as she took the wooden sword.

"They are looking at us now mom, maybe we can talk about it later?" Henry told Emma.

"Text Regina, she will tell you" Emma said as she walked towards Hook with the sword.

Henry nodded and took out his phone to text Regina.

"I don't want to hurt you pirate," Emma told Killian.

"Maybe I want you to hurt me" Killian winked

"I am right here!" Henry protested and he walked towards his grandparents.

Emma and Hook laughed.

"I don't want to sword fight" Emma said, "I am freaking out right now, and this won't help"

"What is going on love?" Killian asked as he took Emma's sword.

Emma took Hook's hand and they both walked towards the garage, making it seemed as if they were only going to leave the swords there.

"I am organizing a ball" Emma whispered to Killian.

"A what?" Hook asked surprised.

"A ball, you know dancing and stuff"

"I know what a ball is, but you are organizing a ball? You? Emma Swan?"

"Well it's not for me , It's for my dad"

"Yeah sure" Hook smiled

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, I am just impressed of how thoughtful you are being. So the little thing about the library was some kind of cover up"

"Yes, wait how do you know?"

"I am a pirate love, I know when someone is trying to cover something up" Killian said as he hugged Emma by the waist.

"A really handsome pirate by the way" Emma said wrapping her arms around Killian's neck "so are you going to help me with the ball?"

"What will I receive in return?" Killian asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Wherever you want" Emma said as she brushed her lips against Killian's.

"I want a dance with the princes" Killian kissed Emma tenderly in the lips.

"Done" Emma said as she ended the kiss "the only problem is that my parents suspect that I am hiding something from them"

"Don't worry about that, me and the lad will help you with them. I have to be honest I think your mother will be harder to fool"

"Tell me about it" Emma said with a little laugh "she mean no harm though, she only worries about me"

"That's cute"

"Yeah, my mom is kind of a control freak, but I know how to handle her" Emma told Killian who suddenly was looking behind Emma with wide eyes.

Emma closed her eyes knowing who was behind her.

Snow had come to the garage to get Neal's teddy bear that she had forgotten in the car. She only heard the last part about her smothering Emma and being a control freak. She walked towards the car and got the teddy bear.

Emma turned around and saw her mother reaching up for the toy. She knew that her mother had heard the last part.

Snow took the toy and closed the door of the car; she turned and gave Emma a little smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Sorry if I interrupted something, Neal wants his toy" and with that Snow turned around and walked away.

"Shit, shit, shit" Emma said over and over again.

"That was awkward" Hook said, "she must think that..."

"I know! Shit, I swear she has the worst timing!" Emma said running her hand trough her hair "should I talk to her?"

"What are you going to say?"

"I don't know, I didn't say anything bad, did I?"

"Not if you know the back story. If you just walk in and hear your daughter say that you smother her and that you are a control freak...well that might send the wrong message"

Emma let out a little grunt.

"So when is the ball?"

"In two days" Emma said absently, she was still thinking about what to say to her mother.

"Wow, two days?"

"Belle, Red, Regina and the dwarfs are helping me," Emma said as she walked outside the garage "we are going to do it in the school gym"

"Fancy" Hook said sarcastically

"Oh shut up, we will decorate it and everything"

"Do you have your dress ready?"

"Ugh! Don't even remind me of that. So should I talk to my mom?"

"I don't know, if you want to"

They were at the front steeps now "just help me distract them" Emma told Killian

"Will do"

Emma and Killian walked into the living room and saw that David, Snow and Henry were sitting down. Henry was in front of the TV with some DVDs in his lap and Snow and David were in the large sofa, Neal was in David's lap.

Henry looked up and gave Emma a little smile. Regina had texted him all he needed to know about the ball. "Can we watch a movie mom?"

Emma looked at Snow who was looking down at her phone, she knew that her mother had taken her words the wrong way. "Sure kid, what movie tho?"

"I don't know, maybe we should watch "the conjuring" or "insidious"

"That's not happening kid" Emma laughed "we are used to those type of movies, but my parents aren't"

"And I don't want to watch those bloody movies again" Killian added as he walked towards the other sofa.

"We can take those movies Emma" David said "what types of movies?"

"Scary movies Gramps. You know movies that make you jump and have nightmares at night"

"Yeah, I don't think that's good for Neal" David said

"Yeah blame it on the baby" Henry whispered.

Emma laughed and looked at her mother again who was now looking at Henry with a little smile.

"Why don't we watch back to the future?" Emma said looking at her mother. She remembered that that movie was one of Mary Margaret's favorite movies.

Snow finally looked at Emma and gave her a little smile. Emma let out a little breath that she didn't know she was holding. She really didn't want her mother to be upset at her.

"Yeah sounds good" Henry agreed as he looked for that movie.

Emma sat next to her mother in the sofa, she needed to make sure that her mother wasn't upset at her.

Snow didn't know how to feel about what she had heard her daughter say. A part of her knew that Emma didn't meant to say those words to hurt her but in the other hand she couldn't shake the feeling that her daughter was hiding something from her.

Emma moved closer to Snow until their shoulders were touching each other. "Are you mad at me?" Emma whispered.

Snow looked at her daughter and saw a scared little girl. Snow wrapped her arm around Emma's shoulder bringing her close to her and she kissed her temple.

Emma smiled and rested her head against her mother "you didn't answered me"

"I don't like to be questioned" Snow joked repeating the same words her daughter had told her.

Emma laughed and decided to let that go for now. They will talk about it later. The movie started and within ten minutes Emma's phone began to buzz. Emma took her phone out of her pocket and saw that it was a group text. Since Emma was practically sitting against her mother, she couldn't open the text and read it. She bit her lower lip thinking about what she should do.

Killian saw Emma's reaction and he immediately knew what was going on. "Hey Swan, are you going to leave me here all alone?"

Snow looked at Emma and gave her a little smile "go be with your pirate"

Emma smiled at her mother and got up to sit next to Killian. "Thank you" Emma whispered as she sat next to her pirate. She sat against Killian and began texting with the girls. She learned that preparing a ball required a lot of preparation, she was grateful that she had a lot of people helping her.

David noticed that Emma wasn't watching the movie because she was glued to her phone, he gave Snow a little tap in the shoulder.

Snow looked at David and David pointed at Emma. Snow saw that Emma was with her phone texting without paying attention to the movie. She wondered if this had anything to do with Emma's strange behavior.

Snow decided to ignore that for now and she continued to watch the movie.

"This movie is a classic," Henry said as he stood up to turn off the DVD.

"It was actually really good, it reminded me of Emma time traveling and helping us fall in love" David kissed Snow in the cheek.

"Get a room!" Henry laughed, "so mom did it remind you of your time travel"

Emma was so concentrated in the group text that she didn't hear Henry, she hadn't even noticed that the movie was over. Killian patted her in the ribs and Emma immediately looked up "wait what?"

Snow and David frowned.

"I was just asking if this movie reminded you of your time travel"

"Oh yes, it did. Without the pirates and princesses and the balls and all that crap" Emma said.

"All that crap? Didn't you like it? Come on you have to admit that you had fun at the ball, I saw you. I think you were actually enjoying it" David told Emma.

"She danced with me, of course she enjoyed it" Killian added

"I still can't believe that I didn't dance with you in your first ball" David said looking at his not so little girl. He would've loved to dance with her.

Emma didn't know what to say, in two days she was going to finally dance with her father.

"So these balls are they really as extravagant as they seemed?" Henry asked Snow and David.

"Well most of them are, but to be honest I actually enjoy the most private ones where I actually know everybody" David said.

"So if you had to chose would you rather have a big ball or an intimate one?" Henry asked.

Emma looked at Henry and understood what he was doing. He was actually asking his grandparents their preferences so they could have the best ball ever.

"I would say something in between" Snow said "I do like big balls but I also enjoy the more private ones"

"Oh wow" Henry said pretending to be interested in that "so everybody actually wears dresses and everything?"

"Oh yes"

"Do you like to dress like that gramps?"

"I have to stand next to Snow White, so I had to step it up"

Henry laughed "do you guys have like a favorite dress or gown? You know like I have my favorite jacket that I always wear..."

"Well for me it will have to be the gown that was wearing when I saved your grandmother from the sleeping course"

"And I don't know which one to choose, I like all of them" Snow said.

"Why are you asking all of this Henry?" David asked curiously "do you want to have a ball here? Because you are technically the only one who hasn't been to a ball"

"I am just curious about that stuff" Henry shrugged "Almost every story in my book has a ball"

"I do miss the balls and the dancing" Snow said thoughtfully.

"Well I don't" Emma said nonchalantly "One was enough for me thank you very much"

Snow smiled at Emma, she would love to help her daughter get ready for a ball. Ever since she knew that she was going to have a girl, she dreamed about that special moment.

"Yeah, Emma loves us but just not enough to let us have a ball" Snow joked.

Killian and Henry looked at Emma with big smiles. Emma blushed and looked down.

"I am just joking Emma" Snow said when she saw her daughter's reaction, little did she know that Emma loved them enough to give them the ball they deserved.

"I know mom" Emma said smiling shyly at Snow.

Snow smiled and narrowed her eyes at Emma, her daughter was definitely hiding something.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think! :)**

 **If you love the charming family as much as I do, you might what to read my other fic "Stay with me"**

 **Ok for those people who reviewed complaining about Snow...just stop. She was joking with David, that is why she called him "James". Just a friendly reminder...I write what _I want to write, if you don't like it just don't read it! And if you want to complain at least post with your name? or make an account and we can talk ;) I swear I am so tired about the Snow hate._**


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